Rebound
by TheForceIsStrongWithThisOne
Summary: Set the day after "Things Change." BB is depressed and Raven offers a sympathetic ear. Will something more come from this? Posting the remaining chapters. Complete
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Beast Boy was sitting on top of the Tower, his legs dangling over the edge as he watched the sun begin to set over Jump Bay. From all external appearances it had been a glorious day, as the temperature had hovered around a balmy 75F and the humidity was low. But it had been anything but a glorious day, at least for him.

Earlier that day the schoolgirl who was Terra's doppelganger had finally admitted she was indeed Terra, only to tell him that "things change" and that she didn't want to see him anymore.

He felt like a chump, a total loser. The rejection still stung in his chest, like a sharp dagger that had been plunged in deep and swiftly. He had charged out of Murakami High School, numb from the unexpected rejection. What had happened to "You're the best friend I ever had?" and then there was Slade, taunting him, telling him that she wanted nothing to do with him.

Beast Boy wiped the tears away. But that wasn't all that had happened that day, not by a long shot. He had been brushing off his teammates for the past few days as he tried to reconcile with the girl who insisted she wasn't Terra and had outright ditched them today while they fought the strange transubstantiating monster. By the time he had rejoined the team that afternoon the monster was gone, it had vanished without a trace, but not before trashing the local Wal-Mart distribution center, which was a smoldering ruin after it had escaped. Robin was displeased to say the least. It was bad enough to blow a mission, but the creature had wrecked havoc in a way that would affect the local citizens, who had heard of the local supply chain disruption and were now raiding the local grocery stores, picking the shelves clean in anticipation of local food shortages. Robin knew that the blame for this fiasco would be laid on the Titans, and he blamed Beast Boy for their collective failure.

After they solemnly returned to the Tower with their collective tails between their legs Robin quietly told Beast Boy to follow him to his office. The door stayed closed for almost 30 minutes. No one could hear what was going inside, as Robin had Cyborg soundproof the room earlier that year, but Raven could sense the intense emotional storm that was going on inside. At first it was pure anger emanating from both boys and she worried that they would actually start a physical fight with each other, but about 15 minutes in something happened and Beast Boy's emotions changed. He had quickly shifted from anger to depression. He was emotionally hurt and stayed that way until he quietly emerged from Robin's office, walking silently past Starfire, Cyborg and Raven as he headed for the roof.

Robin emerged from his office a moment later and seeing the others gathered there his mood turned even sourer.

"Don't you have something better to do?" he snarled at the trio as he slammed the office door shut.

"Just when you think it can't get any worse." Raven droned in her monotone before phasing into the floor. Starfire walked away sniffling. _Why does he take losses so personally?_ She wondered. _It isn't possible to always win._

Raven materialized on the roof, having followed the trail Beast Boy's jumbled emotions left behind. She remained hidden in the shadows and watched him fight back the tears. Something had happened to him earlier in the day and Robin was too pig headed to take notice. Beast Boy needed to be with someone, he needed someone to talk with. She had hoped someone else would take the initiative, but quickly came to the conclusion that it was up to her. She sighed as she prepared to approach him. He once joked to Kole that Raven wasn't good with people, and while his insensitive remark had angered her, she knew it was true. Nevertheless the ball was in her court and she couldn't just leave him there weeping. Having braced herself to come out of her comfort zone, she approached him.

"Hey, are you OK?" she asked nonchalantly.

"I was wondering if you were going to come out of the shadows." He replied as he wiped away a few more tears. He had smelled her unique scent while she was skulking in the shadows.

"Do you want me to leave?" she asked flatly in her monotone.

He shook his head. "Sorry. It's been a bad day."

Just then her communicator chirped. It was Cyborg.

"Dinner's ready. If you don't hurry it's going to get cold."

"I'm not hungry." Beast Boy replied to no one in particular.

Raven turned away from him and whispered into the communicator.

"Go ahead and start without us. I'll take him out somewhere."

"You will?" Cyborg asked with a hint if surprise in his voice.

"What? You think I don't care about you guys?"

"Of course not, but this is the green bean we're talking about. Are you sure Raven?" he replied.

Raven had no desire to sit down and eat dinner with Robin that night. She knew he would show up with a Colgate smile on his face, acting like nothing had happened. She wasn't ready for that, not tonight.

"I'll be fine." She replied curtly. "We'll see you guys later". She flipped her communicator shut.

She turned around walked up to him.

"You really are hungry, aren't you?" she asked.

"There's no fooling you, is there?"

"Wanna check out Luigi's?" she asked him.

"You mean the fancy place downtown? I heard they make the best pizza in Jump City"

"That's the one. I'm buying." She replied her voice flat and free of emotion. She could already sense that he was beginning to feel better.

"Gee, Raven, thanks! When do you wanna go?"

She spread her arms and a dark circle formed on the ground.

"Let's go now. Hop on." Suddenly she felt his hesitation. "What's the matter?" she asked.

"Uh, Raven, don't take this the wrong way, but why are you being nice to me?"

"What? I can't be nice to my friends?" she said as she felt a wave of uncertainty and even a bit of fear coursing through his emotions. _You're a real winner Raven, even your friends are afraid of you._

She placed a hand on his shoulder as they flew towards downtown.

"You know you're my friend, right?" she said as warmly as she could.

He gave her a weak smile. Yeah, I do."

Being a weeknight the Pizzeria wasn't very busy as most orders were for takeout. There were plenty of empty tables and Raven led Beast Boy to a quiet booth in the corner of the restaurant where they could have some privacy. The restaurant was cozy and decorated in an over the top fashion, with pictures of Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra and other Italian-Americans plastered on the walls. They could hear the kitchen staff shouting in Italian while heavenly aromas came out of the kitchen. Raven could already sense that the changeling was beginning to relax. Their waitress approached and Raven thought she looked like Sophia Loren. They ordered a large vegetarian pizza with the works and a pitcher of root beer.

"So what happened this morning?" she asked "You kind of disappeared. We were worried about you."

She saw his ears begin to droop.

"I'm not spying on you Beast Boy. I'm just curious."

He sighed before responding "I went to Terra's school and talked with her."

"So what happened?"

Beast Boy stared at his frightful teammate, not sure if he wanted to open up to her with what had happened. After thinking about he realized that if anyone would take him seriously, it would be her. She might not understand and probably wouldn't approve, but at least she wouldn't ridicule him. Well, at least that's what he hoped.

"Well, she is Terra, she admitted it."

Raven's eyes grew wide.

"So you believe me?"

She nodded. "And?"

"Well, I didn't tell you guys about this, cuz I was pissed at all of you, but I saw Slade last night, at the amusement park."

"What!?" Raven shouted, drawing the other customer's attention. She quieted herself down. "You should have told us. What happened?"

"Well, it turned out to be a SladeBot, it wasn't really him. Anyway, he made fun of me, and said that Terra didn't want me in her life anymore."

"So what did you do?"

"I attacked Slade. That's when I leaned it wasn't really him. He was too easy to beat and I trashed the SladeBot."

"Ok, so what about Terra then? What happened with her?"

Tears began to well in Beast Boy's eyes. "She dumped me Raven. She said that she wasn't the girl I used to know. That things change."

He turned away so she wouldn't she him cry, and began to sob quietly.

"Beast Boy, it's OK, you don't have to pretend. Of course it hurts, I should know."

He choked backed his tears and put on his bravest face. "That bastard Malchior"

"It's OK to feel hurt Beast Boy, just remember, you're not alone."

"I was feeling alone. Thanks for, you know, being my friend."

"Just promise me something Beast Boy"

"Sure, for you, anything."

She gazed at him straight in the eyes; her vision was piercing, as if burrowing deep into his very soul.

"Promise me you'll forget about her."

"I'll do my best" he laughed weakly.

"No, Beast Boy, listen to me. She's bad news. I guarantee she'll eventually come back to you, and when she does she'll hurt you again, just like she always does. I don't want to see you get hurt again."

The waitress arrived with the pizza and the pitcher of root beer. As soon as she left Raven continued.

"Don't believe for a moment that she's all you got going for you. You're a nice guy. You deserve better."

"Thanks Raven, even if I don't believe what you're saying." He picked up a slice of pizza and began to nibble absentmindedly at the cheesy triangle.

"Why don't you believe me?"

He finished the slice of pizza before answering "First of all, I couldn't get a girl to date me if my life depended on it. Secondly, Remember Tokyo?"

For a moment she lost her composure and Beast Boy thought he saw a flash of regret on her face, but she quickly recovered and her poker face returned.

"I was going through a bad moment at the time, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry."

He sighed. "Doesn't mean that you were wrong. I'm green, and have pointy ears and fangs. I'm not exactly heartthrob material."

Raven moaned inwardly. "Beast Boy, don't sell yourself short. Believe it or not, girls do like you."

He looked back at her with a skeptical look on his face.

"Terra's the only girl who's ever loved me" he said dejectedly.

"Look, just forget about her, OK? " She paused. "Listen, if it helps, you can hang out with me. I need to go to the fabric store at the mall tomorrow. If you come with me we can catch a movie afterwards."

He quickly perked up. "They're playing 'Revenge of the Zombies' at the Metrolux!"

"Don't push it. It'll have to be something we can both agree on."

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Sure, whatever you say. What do you need to go to the fabric store for?"

"I need to buy some cloth and other materials to sew some new capes and leotards."

"You make your own clothes?" he asked, clearly surprised.

"Yes I do. Where do you think I get my stuff? At Macy's?"

Beast Boy began to laugh.

"What's so funny Beast Boy?" she said with a hint of annoyance.

He stopped laughing long enough to answer: "You were, you made a joke!"

"I suppose I was." She replied in her steady monotone "So are you interested?"

"It's a date!" he replied as he began to eat his second slice of pizza.

"No, it's not a date!" she corrected him "I don't 'date'. We're just gonna hang out together, understood?"

He nodded sheepishly. "The pizza's really good. You should eat some before it gets cold."

Raven picked up a slice and tasted it.

"Not bad. It could use a meat topping though."

They returned late from the pizzeria. Beast Boy was carrying a pizza box as they entered the Tower through the main entrance. Cyborg had already secured the Tower for the night and the front door, with its palm reader was the only way to get in at this hour. They stopped by the common room, but it was already dark.

"They've all gone to bed already?" Beast Boy asked. "I wanted to play some GameStation with Cy." He placed the leftover pizza in the fridge.

Raven briefly considered offering to play a game with him, but understood why everyone had turned in early: the transubstantiating monster was still at large and it usually attacked in the morning.

"We should follow their example and get some rest. There's still that monster to deal with, and we'll probably be tangling with it tomorrow." She said as they began to walk towards their rooms. They walked in silence until they reached her room.

He took her hand and squeezed it. "Thanks, Raven"

She stiffened up and he smelled her discomfort. He immediately let go of her hand. "Sorry Raven. I forgot." He turned and began to walk away. He had almost given her a friendly peck on the cheek, but had opted instead for a "safer" hand squeeze, which was fortunate.

"Wait!" she called. He turned around as she ran up to him.

"I'm sorry. It was a friendly gesture. I shouldn't have rejected it."

"Forget it. Good night, Raven."

She took his hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "Good night … Garfield."

He smiled at her. "Just call me Gar."

_**-( - )-**_

Ok Readers, some of you might remember this story. I yanked it a couple of years ago and cleaned it up. Then I forgot all about it. Since I'm still not writing anything new at the time, I figured I'd republish this old story. This is one of my older stories, and I think it shows. For those of you who haven't read it before, I hope you like it.

There are thirteen more chapters. I will update every day, since they are already written


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Two weeks passed since Raven and Beast Boy's dinner at Luigi's. As agreed upon they went to the mall the next day and together were able to select a movie to see. The pickings were slim that day and they ended up seeing the current Disney flick that was playing. The next day Beast Boy treated her to lunch at a small vegetarian café downtown, after which the spent the afternoon at her favorite bookstore, where she purchased a boxed set of the Lord of the Rings along with the Hobbit for him. She even threw in a small dictionary for good measure.

The transubstantiating monster had not made any more appearances during that fortnight and the pair spent quite a bit of time reading together in the common room. This did not go unnoticed by their teammates, who were beginning to wonder what was going on between the couple who were better known for their incessant bickering. Raven's new found civility towards Beast Boy was especially obvious to the others, who wisely chose to say nothing about the matter, at least for the time being.

Beast Boy only told his teammates about his encounter with the SladeBot and kept Terra's formal dumping private between Raven and himself. Robin, as expected, became completely obsessed when he heard about Slade and had been combing the city for clues on the whereabouts of his nemesis, much to Starfire's chagrin, as the walking traffic light now hardly spent any time at all with his girlfriend. The Boy Wonder found few clues and those that he did find pointed to Murakami High School. He made an appointment to speak with the Principal at the school, but it would have to wait as the school was closed during a 4 week break.

One afternoon Raven went down to the garage to help Cyborg wax the T-Car. Beast Boy was away that afternoon, visiting some kids at a local hospital, and she had some time on her hands that day. For some reason she found the activity to be therapeutic in a Zen kind of way. It was mid afternoon and Cyborg asked her to meet him at 3PM in the garage. She walked into the cavernous room and looked around for the tin man. She didn't see him, but the car was there and judging from the damp floor underneath it was apparent he had just washed it and it was ready to be waxed.

She walked over to the supply cabinet and grabbed a fresh can of car wax, some application cloths and the electric buffer. Cyborg had trained her in all the nuances of properly waxing his baby and she began to apply the wax to the front right fender as the Bionic Titan entered the garage, carrying several cases of soda pop, with which he began to restock the garage fridge.

"Want one?" he asked.

"I'll have an orange soda, if there're any cold ones." She yelled back as she applied the wax with a circular motion.

"You're in luck, there's one cold orange soda left." He produced a glass and filled it with the contents of the can and left it on the bench closest to the sorceress, after which he joined her in the waxing process.

"Say Raven" he began in an innocent tone. "You and the grass stain have been hanging out a lot lately, right?"

"Uh huh" she replied disinterestedly.

"So, uh, anything going on between you two?"

"What do you mean?" she replied without even looking up from the fender, which she was now buffing.

"You know, uh, I mean, you guys are spending a lot of time together"

Raven turned the buffer off and looked her friend in the eye.

"If you're asking whether or not we're romantically involved, the answer is no." she replied in her monotone, masterfully hiding that the question unnerved her. "Yes, we have been spending more time together than we usually do. We have become better friends as a result and I would hope that the three of you would appreciate that."

Cyborg took in his grey friend's words. He had known her for a long time and he could now recognize when she was being disingenuous. He grinned as he replied.

"That's very thoughtful of you Raven. And this has nothing to do with the fact that he's stopped obsessing over Terra, right?"

"A mere coincidence." she replied as she resumed buffing the fender.

Beast Boy and Raven went out to catch another movie together. They arrived early and had already entered the modest sized theatre. Raven insisted they avoid the multiplexes this time along with their usual fare and had somehow talked him into seeing an independent film at the "artsy fartsy" theater, as he called it, in the city's Bohemian district . He had no idea what to expect but figured he had nothing to lose as he could nap if the movie was boring. So far her track record at picking movies had been good and he ha actually enjoyed every movie she had selected for them to see. The movie was "Push" and it had won awards at the recent Sundance film festival. This wouldn't be "Cannibal Zombies 5", that much was certain.

Much to his relief the old Rialto Theatre had a well stocked concession stand where he purchased a huge tub of popcorn and a jumbo sized soda which they agreed they would share. Armed with their treats they headed for the rear of the small theatre, which they usually did to avoid being noticed by the other movie goers. This wasn't an issue this time as the theater, which was located near downtown, was nearly vacant for the matinee. The movie wasn't scheduled to start for another 15 minutes so they had some time to kill.

"I saw her again." He mentioned off handedly.

She turned to face him as she replied, almost grateful for a distraction from the pre-movie ads that continued to cycle on the screen. The smiling realtor ads were the worst, in her opinion.

"Really? Where did you see her?"

"Not far from here. It was right after we caught Mumbo yesterday. I saw her get on a bus with her two goons."

"Goons?" Raven asked. "Terra has goons?"

Beat Boy laughed. "They're just a couple of her classmates at the high school. A pair of ordinary bullies."

"Big and muscular I presume."

"They are for girls."

"Her goons are girls?" Raven said as she raised an eyebrow. "Did she see you?"

"I don't know. I saw them just as they got on the bus, why?"

"Just curious." She said as the lights finally dimmed and the movie began. Once again, to Beast Boy's surprise he found Raven's choice of flick to be interesting if somewhat disturbing and was soon lost in the plot. That is until about 40 minutes into the movie he felt something on his left hand, which was resting on the armrest. To his immense surprise Raven was caressing his hand, absentmindedly and judging by her face she was unaware that she was doing so, as she was absorbed in the movie. He debated what to do. Should he withdraw his hand? Cough? Kiss her?

No way! He knew the best thing to do was to play dumb. It was the only way to spare her any embarrassment. And she would be embarrassed. Anyway, why interrupt her? He was enjoying it, so what harm could there be in letting her continue? She continued to fondle his hand for a quite a while, and he began to worry that the movie would end before she stopped. Then he had an idea. With his other hand he silently offered her some popcorn, which she accepted using the caressing hand. He deftly removed his now freed hand from armrest. He was pleased with his cunning.

The only problem was that it didn't work. When he stuck the tub of popcorn in her face she became aware of her embarrassing predicament. There was no way he didn't know, she realized. What would she tell him? In a fit of panic she decided to adopt one of Beast Boy's time honored tactics: pretend nothing had happened and act dumb.

Robin slammed his fist onto the top of his desk. Starfire was sitting on the other side with her arms crossed and a frown on her face. Not that it did any good. He was completely unaware of her presence until he looked up from the scattered papers on his desk.

"How does he do it?" he snarled through clenched teeth. "How does he stay a step ahead of me?"

"Because he is Slade?" the princess answered in huff.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" the boy blunder growled before he looked up, straight into a pair of glowing green eyes.

"I'm sorry, Star." He sighed. "It's just that I know he's getting ready to try to pull off something. Something big. And I have no idea of what it is. The only clue I have leads to a local high school. How could a high school fit into his plans?" he moaned.

Starfire's expression changed. "You need to relax, my boyfriend. Let us go out for a coffee. We can go to Raven's favorite depressing café. It is nearby and the coffee they serve is satisfactory."

Robin marveled at his alien sweetheart. She was so forgiving and easy to please. With a supreme effort he let go of his obsession.

"Sure, a cappuccino sounds good".

Raven and Beast Boy stopped at the "depressing café" to have a snack before heading back to the Tower. Beast Boy was still trying to process the strange movie he had just seen.

"Gee Raven, I though the villains we fought were screwed up, but those characters in that movie, they really take the cake!"

"Sorry about that." She replied. "You get to pick next time, OK?"

The green boy smiled back "Oh, it wasn't that bad."

She briefly cracked a small smile before changing both the subject and the expression on her face.

"Garfield?" she asked. His ears perked up, as she had only begin to call him by this given name.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Don't tell anyone, understand?"

"You mean, about what happened in the theater?"

She nodded. "That was something I consider very intimate and private. I don't want to hear Cyborg or Robin teasing us about that, or Starfire gushing like a school girl. Understand?"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." He paused nervously, obviously wanting to say something more.

"What is it, Garfield?"

He nervously tapped his index fingers together. "Any chance, you know, we might do that again?"

"Maybe" she replied, completely unaware that Starfire and Robin were seated a few tables away and had heard everything she had said.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Robin grabbed his girlfriend by the elbow while he covered her mouth with his other hand. There was a small bush that partially hid their outdoor table, which is why Raven and Beast Boy had not seen them when they arrived. Robin slowly guided her inside the coffee shop, where he finally released her while lifting his index finger to his lips. She understood the Earthly gesture and remained silent while Robin continued to spy from the café's entrance on the chromatically challenged couple while they continued to chat.

"Maybe?" Beast Boy asked nervously.

Raven bit her lower lip. She actually enjoyed caressing her green friend's hand, but was afraid to admit it. Afraid to admit it to Beast Boy, but even worse she was afraid to accept it herself. Clearly embarrassed, she turned away from him, consumed in self consciousness.

"I don't want to talk about it now" she blurted out.

"It's OK, we don't have to. I just wanted to tell you that I liked it. I liked it a lot."

Robin and Starfire continued to spy on their friends. Robin was slack jawed while Starfire was suppressing squeals of delight. She had long hoped that someday Beast Boy and Raven would become a couple, and here was the proof that it had indeed happened or so she thought.

"OK, Star" Robin whispered "Now we just need to leave quietly and they'll never know we were here or saw anything."

Just as they began to stealthily step away their communicators began to chirp with their unique ring tone, which gave them away as Raven and Beast Boy still had their communicators on vibrate mode. It only took the sorceress a split second to realize what had happened and had it not been for Cyborg's frantic voice heard over the 4 communicators there is no telling how she would have actually reacted to being spied on, or how she might have punished her teammates.

"Yo! Get your butts down to the docks! Our favorite monster's just been sighted there!" The tin man's voice echoed through the four communicators.

Raven glared at the couple while Beast Boy cringed, wondering which dimension she was going to banish them to.

"You're dead meat on a stick." Raven growled at them. "Lucky for you it'll have to wait." She flung her cape around herself and Beast Boy and they vanished into a black hemisphere, which itself sank into the ground and disappeared.

"Crap!" the Boy Wonder groaned as Starfire's face was a portrait of shock and regret. He turned to the orange skinned beauty. "Let's get going, we don't want the monster to escape this time!"

She nodded as she opened her communicator. "We are on our way!" she shouted into its microphone, after which she shut it and lifted Robin by his underarms as they flew away together.

**-( - )-**

Robin and Starfire were the last to arrive and it was obvious that the battle was already well underway. There were several smashed cars in the street along with a burning bus lying on its side. Raven was trying to subdue the monster with her dark energy and was having trouble as the creature kept changing its nature. The sorceress was sweating profusely, and was quickly becoming exhausted. Just as the monster broke free Beast Boy morphed into a Triceratops and slammed into the creature. His two horns were jammed into the monster's body, but the creature didn't even flinch. It came into contact with a puddle of water and melted away, escaping from Beast Boy's massive horns.

Cyborg pummeled it with his sonic cannon, but that only caused the creature's liquid body to ripple and Starfire's star bolts were equally ineffective. Robin thought quickly and threw a few of his freezing disks at the monster and it quickly crystallized into clear ice.

The five Titans surrounded the frozen monster, which now resembled a small ice rink more than a monster, and stared at it.

"Ok, now what do we do?" Beast Boy asked.

"Get it back to the tower before it thaws." Robin replied.

"Shouldn't we remove the box with the eyes?" Raven asked. "Something tells me that's what controls this thing."

"I see it!" Beast Boy chimed in as ran over the monster's body, rushing to pluck the strange box out of the ice. As he approached the box Raven saw the frozen puddle begin to vibrate. Beast Boy lost his footing and fell down and before he could get back up the creature had thawed completely. Part of it was touching a manhole cover and its body quickly tuned into iron and it resumed it biped morphology.

Beast Boy fell to the ground as the monster sat up, oblivious to Starfire's bolts and Cybrog's sonic cannon. With its right hand it grabbed Beast Boy, its huge palm easily wrapped around the green teen's torso, which it began to squeeze. Beast Boy initially howled in pain as the sounds of his ribs cracking could be heard.

"Garfield!" Raven screamed. She levitated with her eyes glowing red and using her dark energy she forced the creature's hand to open and Beast Boy's now unconscious form fell away like a rag doll. Starfire caught him and carried him off to a safe distance, followed by Raven who immediately tended to the changeling's injuries. Starfire joined Robin and Cyborg in fighting the monster, which once again assumed a liquid form and escaped down a drain.

Having failed once again to capture the creature, the three Titans joined Raven who was still busy with her blue healing light.

"I've stabilized him, but we need to get him to the infirmary immediately." She said in her monotone drawl, which failed to conceal the worry in her voice.

"Can you teleport him to the infirmary?" Robin asked.

"Yes" she replied.

"Good!" Cyborg replied. "Get him changed into a hospital gown and start an IV. As soon as I get there I'll run some tests. Also check his SpO2, if it's under 97% put an oxygen mask on him. And get a 12 lead on him as well. Now go!"

Once again she swept her cape around herself and the changeling and they vanished in a swirl of dark energy.

**-( - )-**

Raven quickly deposited the still unconscious Beast Boy into his personal med station in the infirmary. She turned on the ECG and placed the SpO2 sensor on his index finger. She then quickly removed his shoes and socks, tossing them aside. She glanced at the ECG monitor which displayed an SpO2 value of 100%. His blood was fully oxygenating, much to her relief. Now to the get 12 lead on him. She grabbed some scissors and cut away his shirt and pants, leaving him in his boxers. If Cyborg wanted those off, he could remove them himself. She connected the 12 lead cables to the ECG, and using the cheat sheet Cyborg made she attached the 12 electrodes to his chest. The ECG displayed a normal sinus wave and Raven once again sighed in relief. She then pulled a fresh gown out of a bag and carefully slipped it onto her friend. She was preparing the IV as the others arrived, rushing into the infirmary.

Cyborg quickly scanned the ECG display and it was obvious he was pleased with what he saw.

"Raven's blue light special once again saves the day." He crowed as he checked the IV catheter. He lifted the gown to check the electrodes, which were all firmly planted and in the right place. He lowered the gown and reached under it and with a pair of scissors cut up the boxers and removed their remains. He then covered Beast Boy with a blanket.

"I see you skipped your chance to take a peek, Raven." Cyborg teased the sorceress as he threw the remains of the boy's clothes into the trash. Raven first blushed and then gave the tin man one of her better death glares.

Beast Boy regained consciousness. He didn't open his eyes but didn't need to. He knew he was in the infirmary. He tried to ask if they had won, but all that came out was a moan.

"He's gonna be sore, so I'm gonna give him some painkillers in his IV. He'll sleep for a while. You can stay here with your boyfriend if you want to, Raven."

"He's not my boyfriend!" she snarled.

"But Raven." Starfire interrupted "I heard you say at the café that you and Beast Boy were the 'intimate'."

All eyes were on Raven and nobody noticed that Beast Boy was now wide awake, taking everything in.

"I am not intimate with Beast Boy! Why in the world would you think I'm having sexual relations with him? I don't even love him! Why he's just an immature …"

Raven stopped dead in her tracks mid-sentence as she noticed that Beast Boy was staring at her, tears welling up in his eyes. She turned around and fled, phasing through a wall as she escaped from the infirmary.

**-( - )-**

Five days passed since the incident with the monster. Cyborg discharged Beast Boy from the infirmary but still hadn't cleared him for active duty, and he spent most of the morning playing video games by himself. He hadn't touched his Lord of the Rings books and they were lying on the coffee table, gathering dust. He also hadn't spoken with Raven since she bolted from the infirmary, as she barricaded herself in her room, and only came out to eat or for missions. He decided that he had some unfinished business with her and tossed the game controller aside as he lifted himself from the circular couch and headed off to her room, with the Lord of the Rings books in his hands.

The hallway was as quiet as a mausoleum as Robin and Starfire were training in the weight room and Cyborg was puttering in the garage. He walked slowly, with some hesitation. He wasn't sure what he was going to say to her, all he knew was that anger was welling up in his chest. While it was true that he wasn't her boyfriend, she didn't have to be so vehement about it. As he stepped in front of her door it opened. She had sensed him coming down the hallway and was waiting for him. Her face was blank, as always. He had so much to say to her, but didn't know how.

"Thanks for saving my life." He said in a dull voice.

"No problem."

He handed the books to her. "I believe these are yours."

"No, they're yours."

"I don't want them anymore." He turned and began to walk away.

"Garfield, wait."

He stopped, but did not turn around.

"I'm sorry for what I said. I don't know why I said that."

He turned around and stared her in the eyes. His eyes looked dull, unhappy, devoid of life. He didn't say anything until he turned around and resumed his departure.

"She was never ashamed of me Raven. Terra was completely messed up, she betrayed us and broke my heart more than once, but she was never ashamed of me."


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Raven shut and locked her door behind her as she retreated to her room. A wave of bitterness surged through her body as Beast Boy's remark hit home. Fighting back her tears she dropped the books he had returned unceremoniously to her on the floor.

"I'm not ashamed of you." she whispered in the privacy of her room. "And why her? Why did you have to bring her up?" she seethed at the absent changeling. Without thinking she began to recite her mantra and after 10 long minutes she had regained a semblance of control. She got up and began to slowly pace around her room until she saw her tear stained face in the mirror. Unwilling to allow her teammates see her in such as state she washed up and applied some eye drops to her bloodshot eyes.

She sat down at her desk, pondering what to do next. Beast Boy was obviously upset with her and it wasn't just going to blow over. She humiliated him in front of their friends, so she reasoned that the right thing to do would be to apologize to him in front of the others. But what would she do if Cyborg or Starfire asked her if they were a couple or not? She felt a flock of butterflies in her stomach, unsure of how she would respond if cornered with that question.

It was 3:00 PM, and she decided that some meditation was in order. Her plan was to meditate until dinner time, which would be the perfect time to apologize to Beast Boy. She sat back down on her bed, moved into the lotus position and slowly began to recite her mantra. She began to levitate, as if sitting on an invisible pillow. Her eyes were closed and the room around her dissolved as she attempted to become one with the cosmos. She was struggling to find her center as her inner turmoil resisted any of her attempts to tame it and progress came slowly.

Eventually her efforts bore fruit and she felt relaxed and refreshed. As she opened her eyes she saw, to her shock, that it was already late the next morning. She lowered herself to the floor and ran out of her room. It was already past 10 AM and nobody had come to look for her. She rushed into the common room, finding only Starfire there, watching the World of Fungus show on the TV.

"Good morning, Raven!" she greeted the demoness. "Did you slumber well?"

"Yeah, sure" she replied absentmindedly as she scanned the room. "Where's Beast Boy?"

"Beast Boy is gone for the day." The princess replied as she fussed over Silkie, who was now sitting on her lap.

"Gone? Gone where? I thought he wasn't cleared yet to return to duty."

"He is not. He has taken the day off and left very early this morning to go to Los Angeles."

"Los Angeles? What's he doing in LA?" the sorceress asked with and expression that was both cross and confused.

"He has taken a date to Disneyland. He said they will be returning late tonight."

Raven's eyes grew wide. "A date? Who?"

"He said that her name was Heather. She is a volunteer at Children's Hospital and they met there some time ago."

Raven walked out of the common room without saying a word. The Tamaranian watched her leave with a knowing look on her face.

It was now past 11 PM and Raven was lying on top of her bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. She barricaded herself in her room since that morning, trying vainly to reconcile what had had happened.

_I should be happy for him…but I'm not._ She thought bitterly. _So this is what jealousy feels like. I wonder what color her cape his, not that I'll set foot in Nevermore. Forget that!_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft knock on the door. Her first thought was to send whoever it was away, but she knew deep down that she needed some company.

"It's open. Come on in." she called out.

It was Starfire, who was carrying a tray with some food.

"Cyborg asked me to bring this to you, as you have not eaten anything all day." She said innocently.

Raven leaped up and off her bed. She was hungry and the food smelled good.

"Thanks Starfire" she said as she took the tray and set it down in her desk. Cyborg had made her a steak with a baked potato and some sautéed vegetables.

"I welcome you." Starfire replied. "Do you mind if I stay while you have your dinner? I wish to share the girl talk with you."

"Trouble with bird boy?" the sorceress asked through a mouthful of steak.

"No, Robin and I do not have the boy-girl troubles. I wish to talk with you about Beast Boy."

Raven paused, her mouth open as she was about to shovel another bite of her Porterhouse steak into it.

"What?"

The princess turned away from her friend.

"You do not wish to talk about him?"

"What is there to talk about?"

"You might be a mighty sorceress, friend Raven, but you are a poor liar."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The Tamaranian folded her arms over her chest while she gave her friend an angry look.

"It means that you have the feelings for our green teammate."

Raven snorted derisively as she continued to eat.

"I see you are not ready to discuss your love for him. I am most disappointed and shall leave now."

Starfire walked to the door and punched the open button.

"klorhbag" she muttered sotto voce as she walked out.

As the orange skinned alien crossed the threshold Raven paused her feasting.

"Starfire, wait, don't leave."

The tall girl turned around, her eyes were glowing, a sign Raven knew well. She was upset, very upset.

Raven sighed and shoved her unfinished dinner aside.

"This isn't easy for me, Starfire."

"That which is worth doing is rarely easy."

Raven chuckled. "Is that an old Tamaranian saying?"

"No" Starfire giggled, her anger gone. "I read it the other day in a fortune cookie."

Raven laughed even harder and then began to cry.

"I don't know what to do Starfire. I do love him, but I'm so afraid."

"Of Beast Boy?" she asked incredulously.

"No." Raven answered. "I'm afraid of myself. I'm afraid I'll hurt him, that I'll be stupid and break his heart."

Starfire was staring at the floor and looked up at her friend.

"I'm afraid you have already done that. What happened in the theatre?"

"Nothing, I just began to caress his hand without even thinking about it."

Starfire grinned. "Oh Raven! That was so, so …"

"Juvenile." Raven filled in the blank. "What's wrong with me Starfire? That's what nine year olds do! It's like I'm an emotional baby, and I have the gall to call him immature?"

"You are the tardy flower?"

"Late bloomer." Raven corrected her. "Perhaps. But I don't know what to do Starfire. Just the thought of opening up to him scares the daylights out of me. What if he wants to kiss me?"

"Do not worry Raven, just take the small steps. He will be patient, trust me."

"I don't know…"

"You have fought and defeated the deadliest of villains and with no fear."

"This is different."

"It is, but I will be there to help you."

"OK." Raven said quietly. "And I know what the first step is. When is he due back?"

"Soon, he promised to bring the Heather back before midnight."

Raven's stomach tied itself into knots. She had forgotten about the other girl.

"Will you stay up and wait for him with me?"

Starfire smiled. "Of course I will. What is your first step?"

"You'll see."

As Raven and Starfire approached the common room they heard voices having an animated exchange. Raven sensed that Beast Boy had returned and started running to the room, followed closely behind by Starfire. As the doors slid open they entered the room unnoticed by the others. Robin, Cyborg and Beast Boy were there, as was someone else.

Raven's heart sank when she saw her. She was a tall, leggy and very shapely brunette and she had her arm draped around Beast Boy's shoulder.

"I've been to Disneyland before, but I never had such a great time there." Heather gushed.

"Star! Raven! You didn't have to wait up for us!" Beast Boy called out.

"And miss meeting Heather?" Raven droned in her monotone. Heather's demeanor changed instantly when she saw the grey skinned sorceress.

"Hi." She said weakly."It's, uh, nice to meet you Raven, and you must be Starfire?" She quickly read the two girls' body language and it was clear that they were less than thrilled to meet her.

"It's nice to meet you too. So you and Beast Boy had a good time at the Magic Kingdom?" Raven replied, her voice completely devoid of emotion.

"Uh, yeah, we did." She turned her attention to Beast Boy. "I'd better get going, I told my folks I would be home by midnight."

"I'll walk you to your car." Beast Boy offered as they left the common room together.

"It was nice meeting you; I hope to see you again soon." Heather called out as the doors slid shut.

"I hope not." Starfire growled.

"Star! What's with you?" Robin accused her.

"I do not like the Heather." She replied.

"But why? She's perfectly nice and she's crazy about Beast Boy."

"That's why." She replied cryptically.

Robin stared at her dumbfounded. "I think I'll go to bed."

"No Robin, wait for Beast Boy to come back. There's something I want to tell everyone." Raven interrupted, just as Beast Boy returned.

"What do you want to tell us Raven?" the changeling interrupted.

Raven swallowed hard, knowing that this wasn't going to be easy for her. In fact, she was ready to bolt out of the room, but summoned all her willpower to stay put.

"I want to talk about what happened back in the infirmary a few days ago."

Cyborg interrupted. "I'm sorry I teased you Raven. I should have known better…"

Raven raised her hand and he stopped.

"As you all know Beast Boy and I spent a lot of time together before that day in the infirmary. I won't downplay it, the truth is we've gotten closer to each other and have nurtured a special friendship."

Cyborg interrupted again. "Yeah, we kind of already figured that out."

Raven continued. "Well, as Robin and Starfire already know, Garfield and I had a little 'moment' back at the movie theatre and when they found out, BY SPYING ON US, I was upset to say the least."

"And that's why you got so angry when Cyborg teased you about Beast Boy being your boyfriend." Robin concluded.

Raven sighed. "That's correct." She paused. "And I took it out on the wrong person." She said sadly as she turned to Beast Boy. "Please forgive me Garfield. And if it helps, I want you to know that I'm not ashamed of you. How could I be? You're my best friend." She said as a tear rolled down her cheek.

Beast Boy grinned and gave her a tight hug. "You're my best friend too, Raven" As he released her he pecked her on her cheek. She quickly blushed, and rested her head on his shoulder, much to Starfire's grinning approval.

"Well, this has been quite a day." Robin remarked. "But I do need to get up early tomorrow. I have an 8AM appointment with the principal of Murakami High School."

"What for?" Beast Boy asked.

"Slade has some kind of interest with that school and I was hoping the Principal might have some clues for me."

"Dude! Terra goes to Murakami School."

"You mean the girl you thought was Terra?"

"No Robin, she is Terra. She told me and Slade told me too."

"Slade?" Robin shrieked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Beast Boy looked contrite. "I had my reasons."

"I still wish you had told me." Robin then addressed the whole team. "Everyone get a good night's rest. We need to be ready for whatever Slade might throw at us." 


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Beast Boy was trotting happily up to the Tower's roof top. Cyborg had just given him his follow up physical exam and he had been cleared for duty. During his convalescence he was forbidden to do any morphing as there was concern that it might interfere with his ribs mending correctly. Beast Boy thought that Cyborg was being excessively cautious but had followed his instructions. He was now eager to spread his wings and fly. He loved to soar as a bird, and the Peregrine Falcon was his favorite. He got a rush out of the high speeds, especially when diving, hitting close to 200 mph. Only Starfire could fly faster in the atmosphere, and with great effort.

He bolted through the roof access door and ran to the edge, giggling as he spread his arms and began to transform into a green "Duck Hawk". His transformation was almost complete as he leaped off the edge and within a split second he was soaring above the bay, circling the tower as he elevated into the sky. He felt the cool morning air caress his feathered body as the bay shimmered like a gem over two thousand feet below. Feeling frisky he went into a dive towards the Tower's roof and quickly accelerated until he reached a speed of 200 miles per hour. He felt the excitement course through his body as the Tower quickly approached.

As he got close to the Tower he spread his wings to reduce his speed and land, but as he did that he felt a sharp pain in his chest, as two of his delicate and not fully healed avian ribs snapped from the stress of the deceleration. The pain was blinding and he began to tumble, unable to regain control. He saw the rooftop approaching rapidly as he was still falling at a speed of over 100 mph.

He knew it was the end, and braced himself for the impact, hoping that his demise would be quick and hopefully painless. As he drew close to the Tower's roof he felt strangely calm, and contrary to the stereotype, his life did not flash before his eyes. As the impact became imminent his last thought was of Raven.

He suddenly felt a cold tingling sensation.

_Is this what dying feels like? _He wondered to himself.

He felt himself decelerate rapidly, so much so that he couldn't breathe. He came to a full stop less than a meter from the roof's surface and then gently floated to the floor, where he morphed back into his human form, clutching his side in pain. Lying on his back he felt the tingling sensation vanish and his surroundings suddenly became brighter. He saw Raven running towards his prone form with a mortified expression on her face. He now understood that she had saved him from a certain death.

"Garfield! What happened? Are you OK?" she wailed. She was paler than usual.

"I-I-I h-hurt myself in the dive." He struggled to speak.

She pulled his hands away from his side and once again began the healing process. Beast Boy immediately began to feel better and let out a sigh of relief. After a minute she was done and pulled him to his feet. She then gave him a fierce hug, and didn't let go.

"You idiot! You could have killed yourself!" she said, her voice trembling. "What were you thinking!?"

"I'm sorry Rae. Cyborg just gave me a clean bill of health. I guess he was wrong. Lucky for me you were here."

She released him and wiped away a few stray tears.

"I came because I wanted to ask you something."

The changeling smiled. "Fire away Rae. I'm all ears."

"It's very personal and private. I don't want you telling the others about what I'm about to say, OK?"

"Sure, you can trust me."

After hesitating for almost a minute she began, stammering all the way. "Garfield would you, I mean I want us to, I mean, will you be …"

And she was interrupted by her communicator. It was Robin, who apparently had returned from his meeting with the school Principal.

"Come to the common room immediately!" His voice barked over Raven's communicator. "I have some news regarding Slade."

_Saved by the bell!_ The sorceress thought to herself. For a moment there she thought she was about to pass out. "We're on our way." She acknowledged. Heaving a sigh of relief she closed the communicator and placed it back on her belt.

"What did you want to tell me?" he asked.

"It can wait." She said with a tone of relief still clear in her voice. "Let's not keep Robin waiting."

Raven and Beast Boy were walking down the hallway to the common room.

"So, what's Robin gonna tell us? It's gotta have something to do with Terra."

"Probably does." Raven replied. "I just hope it's not bad news."

"When Slade's involved, it always is." The changeling remarked.

As they made their way around the last corner they saw Starfire emerge from her room. She grinned when she saw the couple and glided over to them.

"Friend Beast Boy, may I have a moment with Raven?"

"You don't need my permission, but thanks for asking." He then smiled at Raven. "I'll save a seat for you."

Once he was out of earshot the princess grabbed Raven by the shoulders and whisked her away into her room. Raven did her best not to grimace at the décor in the alien girl's room, which was giving her a sensory overload. The vast amounts of pink alone made her eyes hurt.

"So? What did he say? Oh what am I saying? Of course he said yes, why he looked so happy to be with you!"

Raven averted her gaze to the floor. "I never got around to asking him."

"Why not?!" Starfire shrieked, the disappointment clear in her voice.

Raven looked at her friend, her irritation was evident.

"I choked, OK?" she paused "And since when does the girl ask? I thought that was the boy's job."

Starfire shook her head.

"I am sorry Raven, but you must ask him."

Raven seemed ready to snap. "Give me one good reason why I have to go out on a limb and ask him to be my boyfriend? I'm not even sure I want him to be my boyfriend."

The princess rolled her eyes and displayed her contempt for Raven's cowardice with a huff.

"I have seven reasons why you should not wait and ask him now."

"Seven reasons? I gotta hear this."

Starfire smiled before she began: "H","E","A","T","H","E","R".

Raven gave her a sour look before charging off.

"Fine, I'll ask him! But you know what? You … you're devious!"

Starfire suppressed her laughter until Raven was out of earshot.

"I love you too, my sister!" she giggled as she make her way to the common room.

Raven was livid. Starfire had no freaking idea of how hard this was for someone like her. But she was right. Heather was all over Beast Boy, _my Beast Boy_, like a cheap suit. And she was dressed like a whore! What was he thinking? Did he really like floozies? Raven slowed down her pace and stopped in front of the common room sliding doors.

_Relax Raven, you can't go in there like this. And you can't blame him for taking that hussy out on a date, especially after that put down in the infirmary. But it's all OK now. We're back together as best friends and I'll ask him before the day is over. No, I'll ask him right after the meeting. No! I'll ask him right now! Let no one say that Raven Roth is coward!_

Raven collected herself, put on a small smile and pushed the open door button on the wall. She stepped in and looked around. Starfire had somehow already entered the room and was talking with Robin and Cyborg in front of the TV. Beast Boy wasn't with them and she looked around the room for him. She finally saw him in the kitchen.

And every light bulb in the common room exploded.

Standing right in front of him, her arms wrapped around his waist with her head resting in his shoulder was none other than Terra, who was dressed in her school uniform.

Everyone turned to the still open sliding doors and saw Raven standing there, slack jawed, and staring at Beast Boy and Terra.

"Are you OK Raven?" Cyborg asked her.

Raven quickly composed herself. "Sorry, I was just surprised to see Terra here. The last time I saw her she was still made of stone."

"Understandable" the boy wonder replied as he handed a box of replacement bulbs to Starfire while Cyborg vacuumed up the shattered glass pieces. Terra let go of Beast Boy and walked up to Raven.

"Hi Raven, I'm glad to see you too." She said with a sly smile.

Raven's eyes glowed red. "Stay away from him Terra, I'm warning you."

"Who are you to tell me what to do? I asked BB if he had a girlfriend and he said no."

"I swear Terra, if you hurt him again…"

"And since when do you care about BB? If anyone here's guilty of hurting him, it's you."

"OK, that's enough!" Robin intervened.

"What the hell is she doing here?" Raven complained.

"Slade has been trying to recruit her again as his apprentice. It's too dangerous for her now; she needs to stay with us."

Raven didn't look convinced. "I thought she could now hold her own against Slade. She doesn't need our protection."

"It's still too risky. She's gonna stay with us until we can deal with Slade."

Raven saw a smirk form on Terra's face. The Sorceress wanted to rip out the Geomancer's throat, but instead walked up to Beast Boy.

"We need to talk." She said as she swept her cape around him and they vanished together.

"She seems on edge." Terra guffawed. "What's with her and BB? She gotta a crush on him?"

"Knock it off Terra." Cyborg interrupted. "Raven has good reason to be suspicious of you. Lay off her, OK?"

"Sor-reee" she replied sarcastically. "So are they a couple or not? Cuz she seems pretty damn possessive of him."

"Believe it or not, they've become close friends, OK?" Robin replied.

"So my BB is still fair game then, right?"

Starfire exploded. "He is not the fair game! You told him to go away a few weeks ago, and now you want him. Why?"

"Can't a girl change her mind?"

Robin jumped back in. "Listen Terra, the last thing I need is trouble between you and Raven. If you can't behave yourself I'll ship you off to Titans East, and I mean it!"

"Gee Robin, chill. I got the message, OK? But it takes two to play nice. I can't help it if Raven's gonna be an uber bitch."

"Just stay out of her way. And Beast Boy's way too."

Beast Boy and Raven phased into her room.

"Sit down Garfield." She motioned to the edge of her bed, and he complied. She sat down next to him.

"I'm ready to ask you the question I was going to ask you on the roof. Before I ask you I want you to know this has nothing to do with Terra's arrival, understand?"

The green boy nodded as she took his hand in hers.

"You know that I care a great deal about you, right?"

"Of course Raven, and I care a lot about you too."

"Good, because you're very special to me Garfield."

"Why don't you just call me Gar?" he asked.

She smiled. "Sure. And you can call me Rae. You do it all the time anyway."

He laughed as well, giving her hand a soft squeeze.

"So what do what do you want to ask me?"

_OK Raven, it's now or never!_

"Gar" she began, her voice clearly trembling.

"Will you be my boyfriend?"

His expression changed instantly to one of sadness and sorrow.

"I'm sorry Rae, I can't."

Now you didn't think I wouldn't slip a good old fashioned cliff hanger here, did you?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

"You can't?" Raven said incredulously. "What do you mean you can't?"

"Promise me you won't get mad?"

"Too late! I'm already angry! Why the hell won't you be my boyfriend?" Her eyes began to glow red.

"Believe me Rae, if the situation was different I would say yes, really." He said with a worried tone.

"WHY? DAMMIT! WHY?"

Beat Boy cringed, clearly afraid for his wellbeing, if not for his life.

"I'll tell you." He stammered. "But please calm down first, OK? Please Rae?"

His fearful pleas only angered the sorceress even more. She extended her hand towards him and he was enveloped in dark energy. She then closed her open palm into a fist and Beast Boy felt the dark fingers grip as they began to squeeze him. He instantly recalled the thrashing Raven had given Slade under the old abandoned library over a year ago. His eyes grew wide and he felt his own body tremble with fear.

"Please don't hurt me Rae, I'm sorry."

"Tell me why, or so help me I'll …"

"Terra's my girlfriend!" he finally blurted out, not knowing what to expect next.

The Tower shook as every window in her room shattered.

"No! Nooo!" she screamed. "You promised me! You bastard! You promised me you wouldn't do that!"

"I'm sorry Rae, I really am."

"Why Garfield? Why? Why her?"

Still in her clutches he turned his face away from her.

"Because I love her Rae, I can't help it. I'm sorry. I'm really sorry."

Beast Boy summoned the courage to look at her face and his heart froze. She had spawned her four demonic eyes and her dark tendrils were pouring out from under her cloak. Her mouth sported an evil grin, complete with shark like serrated teeth. The tendrils reached out and coiled themselves around the helpless changeling's body.

"Please Raven, don't hurt me!" He begged, wondering what horrors she had in store for him.

"I hate you!" she thundered, again shaking the tower as she slammed him into a wall. He screamed in pain.

"Raven! Stop! You don't know what you're doing!" He shouted.

"Oh I know what I'm doing. It's payback time!" She replied in a guttural voice as she repeatedly slammed him into the floor and the walls in her room. "You're going to feel my pain, you worthless piece of trash!"

Beast Boy began to beg for his life as he felt bone after bone break in his body. Eventually he lost consciousness. She opened the door and threw him into the hallway, slamming him one last time into the wall, and finally releasing him. He crumpled to the floor, leaving a bloody stain on the wall.

"BB! BB! Oh my God! Oh my God! What did she do to you?" Terra wailed as she ran up to him, her face a mosaic of horror, fear and anger. She pulled out her new communicator and flipped it open.

"Cyborg, Robin! Help!"

Robin was the first to answer. "Terra! What's going on? Are you OK?"

"It's BB!" she wailed. "Raven's hurt him! She's hurt him bad! I think he's dying!" she sobbed.

"We're coming Terra!" Robin shouted back before the link was cut.

By this point Raven had reverted to her human form, and stood at the threshold of her door, horrified at the sight in front of her.

_Oh Azar! What have I done?_

As Terra held Beast Boy's limp body in her arms she gave Raven the mother of all death glares, and Raven slowly retreated back into her room.

"You'll pay for this witch! I swear you will. And you'd better pray to that heathen goddess of yours that he doesn't die, because if he does …"

Cyborg and Robin arrived at the same time. Cyborg had a med kit in his hands and began to tend to Beast Boy's injuries while Robin grabbed Terra and held her back as Raven retreated further into her room.

"How is he Cy?" Robin asked.

The Bionic Boy shook his head. "He's at death's door. There's nothing I can do for him." He replied gravely.

Robin turned to Raven. "Tell me you can save him!"

Raven nodded.

"Then what are you waiting for?! Do it!" The Boy Wonder barked at her.

Raven ran nervously to Beast Boy's side and laid her hands on him, covering his entire body with her blue light.

"I'm so sorry Garfield." She repeated over and over between sobs as Cyborg watched the sensors built into his left forearm. The healing process went on for what felt like an eternity and Raven was drenched in sweat. They all remained silent, afraid of breaking her concentration until Cyborg broke the silence.

"It's OK, he's out of the woods now."

Raven stood up, her hair was matted to her scalp from all the sweat and her face was drenched in tears.

"I'm, I'm …" she began but was cut off by a blow to her face. She slammed into the wall behind her and tasted blood in her mouth.

"That's for almost killing my buddy!" The tin man growled as he picked up Beast Boy's unconscious form. "I'll be in the infirmary." He walked away without even looking back, followed by Terra and Robin. Only Starfire remained behind, staring in horror at her friend, who looked back at her with sorrowful eyes.

"Raven, what happened? Why did you harm your beloved?"

Without responding she phased into the floor and disappeared.

Raven materialized in an old graveyard that was outside of the city limits. It was an old abandoned cemetery that hadn't been used in over 100 years. No one ever came now to mourn the dead that were buried there, who were now long forgotten. Raven looked at the lonely tombstones. The one closest to her read: Emma Jones, Beloved Wife and Mother, March 18, 1858 – Nov 7, 1889. Life spans were short and cruel in those days. They were much longer now, but could still be just as cruel.

None of the Titans knew of Raven's "quiet spot". She came here when she needed to get away from the tumult of life. The dead made for good company, as they never interrupted or pestered her. They also reminded her of her loneliness. Someday she too would be gone, and like them no one would miss her.

She sat down on Mrs. Jones dilapidated tomb and began to weep. She cried for what she had done to Beast Boy, for allowing her evil side to take control, for being unable to control her darker urges. And she cried for her friends, who she knew were now lost to her.

Suddenly she was aware that she wasn't alone among the "quick" in the graveyard.

"So it finally happened, didn't it Raven?" A familiar deep monotone voice broke the silence.

"Slade!" Raven snarled as she leaped to her feet, balls of dark energy forming around her hands.

"Calm yourself Raven. I'm not here to fight."

"What do you want Slade? And how did you find me here?"

"Oh, I didn't find you here. I've been waiting for you."

"Waiting for me? What the hell are you talking about Slade?"

Slade approached her, his single eye looked amused.

"I know what happened today at the Tower. It was only a question of time Raven, and you've known that all along."

"How could you know what happened?"

"Silly child, I've been spying on you, on all of the Titans actually."

"How?" Raven replied as the anger grew in her voice.

"Remember when I attacked the Tower with your father's fire demons? Well, while we were busy fighting, I had a few of them plant some bugs in the Tower. Some very advanced bugs. Cyborg hasn't a clue that they are there and that I've been spying on the Titans with impunity for over a year."

"I see you think of everything,Slade" Raven replied dryly.

"I'm a firm believer in hedging my bets, especially since Terra betrayed me. Speaking of which, I see you had some trouble with her."

"Shut up Slade, I don't want to talk about that!"

"You might not want to, but the Titans are certainly talking about you." He said as he activated a holoprojector and placed it on top of the tombstone. A 3-D image flickered to life. The Titans were in the infirmary, gathered around Beast Boy's bed. The changeling looked awful; his injuries were clearly visible in the low resolution image. Raven watched mesmerized as she listened in on the conversation.

"_I can't believe she did this to Beast Boy." Robin sighed. "I guess I was wrong about her. The monks of Azarath were right, she really is evil."_

"_Look what she did to him!" Cyborg whined. "One more slam against a wall and he would have died. Not even her blue light would have saved him."_

"_I just wish you would have hit her even harder and more than once." Terra said through sobs. "My poor BB! I swear I'll avenge you."_

_Starfire was also crying. "I cannot believe that Raven would harm her beloved."_

"_He's not her beloved!" Terra shrieked. "He's mine! Get that through your thick Tamaranian skull!"_

"_But, she loved him." _She replied with a whimper_._

"_She doesn't love anybody!" _Terra retorted_. "She's a demon for Heaven's sake. She's incapable of love!"_

_Starfire dropped her head and replied slowly. "I suppose you are right. Raven is no longer our friend."_

Raven smashed the projector with her dark energy.

"I see you have accepted the truth." Slade remarked with a hint of smugness in his voice.

"And what would that be?"

Slade crossed his arms as he replied.

"Your greatest fear child. You are alone. You have shown your true nature to your friends, and they have now rejected you."

Raven turned away from him, hiding her tears from the former mercenary.

"You're lying. I can go back. They're still my friends."

"That bruise on your face says that's not true. Cyborg hit you pretty hard, didn't he?"

She turned and glared at him. "What do you want from me, Slade?"

"Want? I seek nothing. I came here to offer you something."

"What could you offer me?"

"A new life, one more in tune with your true nature."

"I am not my father!"

"Of course you aren't. He had an insane desire to destroy everything. You, well you only want two things."

"What?"

"Revenge Raven, you want revenge for having them ruin your life by bringing Terra back and then turning their backs on you. But above all, you want him, don't you? And not just to hold hands with him in a movie theatre. Oh no. Your demonic side had been lusting for him, am I right? You can have him Raven, it can be done. But if you do nothing he will eventually wind up in Terra's bed. And we don't want that to happen, do we?"

_Damn him! How does he know all this?_

"And where do you fit in, Slade, what's in it for you?"

"What's in it for me? Why the destruction of the Titans of course. And where do I fit in? I will train you so you can exact your revenge."

"Train me?"

"Raven, Raven, you are powerful, but you cannot take on the Titans on your own. They know your strengths and weaknesses far too well. But after I train you they will be no match for you. I guarantee it."

Raven stared at the villain formerly known as Deathstroke the Terminator, mulling his offer. It was tempting, of that there was no doubt whatsoever.

"Think about it Raven. And take your time, there's no rush. I'll be here tomorrow at noon for your answer."


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Raven watched Slade slowly recede into the mist that surrounded the graveyard. He was as silent as a cat, leaving without making a sound. Before he vanished Raven shouted at him.

"How do I know I can trust you?"

"You don't." He terse replied. Then, as quickly as he had appeared, he was gone.

Raven didn't move for the longest time. Once again the cemetery was hers alone, and she savored the silence. She was fixated with the remains of the projector, which Slade left behind as his calling card. She knew she had blown it this time, for good. She had seen and heard her friends forsake her, even Starfire.

One thing Raven knew Slade was correct about was her fear of being alone. It's what drew her out of the shadows on that fateful day when she met Robin, Beast Boy and Cyborg for the first time, that desire for companionship. It really was a contradiction, because she couldn't stand being around people. But that wasn't a surprise, as she herself was a contradiction: the fruit of Adam's seed and Satan's spawn. After she defeated her father she had hoped that she could turn over a new leaf. "There's new beginnings" she had shared with Robin that victorious day, full of hope. But eventually her dark energy reasserted itself and soon she was once again the old, dark Raven. And now she had fallen to a new low, as she almost murdered the boy she was in love with.

Raven heard a clap of thunder and was snapped out of her self-pity as raindrops began to fall on her. She raised a dark, Raven shaped shield to protect her from the elements. Hours had passed since Slade left and it would soon be dark.

She needed to find shelter.

"Did she accept our offer Slade?" the voice inquired.

Slade lifted himself from his throne like chair. The gears in his lair turned as they always did, steadily manufacturing his trademark robots. He paced towards the console, slowly but deliberately, withholding his reply.

"Well Slade, did she accept?"

"Not yet." Was his reply. "She is still clinging to the hope that they will take her back."

"They won't." the voice reassured him. "I guarantee that."

"You are certain of this?" Slade replied with a hint of skepticism in his voice.

"Who is the master and who is the apprentice, Slade?"

"You are the master, and I am your apprentice."

"Good, do not ever forget that. When will we have her? I am growing impatient."

"Soon, my master, very soon. And once we do, we will be able to destroy the Titans once and for all."

"Do not fail me Slade. And remember, the changeling is important to me. I want him unspoiled, do you understand?"

"And what of Raven after the Titans are eliminated?"

"Do not concern yourself with her. I will deal with her when the time comes."

Raven materialized in a closet the infirmary. She slowly cracked the door open, checking to see if she was alone. The only sound she could hear was an ECG beeping periodically as it recorded someone's heart waves. She waited several minutes, waiting to hear a voice, a cough, the shuffling of feet or any sign that there was someone else in the room. Her nerves were too frazzled to attempt to reach out and sense for any other presence, she couldn't even verify that it was Beast Boy who was attached to the ECG. Eventually she was satisfied that she was alone so she carefully emerged from the closet and performed a visual scan of the room. Other than the bed's occupant no one was there. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was past 1:00 AM.

She was here for two reasons. First and foremost, she wanted to see him, and she cried when she did. Both of his arms were in casts as was one of his legs, which was also in traction. Several of his teeth, including his trademarked protruding fang were missing. He had several stitches on his face, as she had only healed his internal injuries, injuries she inflicted upon him. His scalp was shaven and he had a few stitches there as well, not to mention that his face was covered in bruises. His right hand had an IV inserted into it and she could see the 12 lead cables for the ECG snake their way under his hospital gown.

She knelt down next to his bed, taking his free hand and holding it against her cheek she began to weep. Once her tears ran dry she gently kissed his ungloved hand while continuing to rub it against her face, while heaving dry sobs.

"What happened, friend Raven?"

Raven slowly turned and saw that Starfire had entered the room unnoticed. She grimaced, as a look of grief consumed her face.

"Rage. She got loose." She croaked in reply.

The princess looked puzzled. "I thought that you had permanently bound the Rage, that she would never trouble you again."

"So did I. I was wrong."

Starfire looked troubled.

"Why Raven? Why him? What did he do to deserve this?"

"Nothing. He didn't deserve it." She said as she cupped his face and her blue light appeared once again, swarming around his head. Starfire watched as the stitches magically disappeared and his missing fang poked its way out between his lips. When Raven moved onto his left arm his face betrayed no sign of having been injured as the bruises were gone and there were no scars visible.

"You still haven't told me why Raven."

"He turned me down, because …" she paused. "… because Terra had already asked him and he accepted.

"And the Rage took over and harmed him."

Raven nodded, fighting to keep her healing powers in focus. The cast crumbled, exposing Beast Boy's now healthy left arm. She then quietly moved onto the right arm and resumed her healing process.

"Then you are not responsible,Raven."

"Of course I am!" Raven answered her bitterly. "Rage is a part of me! I don't have multiple personality disorder Starfire. I can't wash my hands of this."

"What will you do?"

"First, I will make things right for him. I will heal him."

"And?"

"And then, I will beg for his forgiveness. After which …"

"I forgive you Raven."

Raven and Starfire both jolted from the surprise, Raven's blue light evaporated, leaving the arm only partially healed.

"It's OK Raven, you weren't yourself." He smiled softly at her.

She bent over him, pressing her forehead to his while cupping his cheeks in her hands. He felt her hot tears drip onto his face, as he wrapped his now healthy left arm around her waist. He felt her entire body tremble as she continued to sob.

"Thank you friend, thank you." She whispered as she slowly began to stand up again. "Let me finish healing you."

Cyborg and Robin came charging into the infirmary, having been alerted by the ECG display on the Bionic Boy's arm. When they saw Raven in the room they both went into fighting stance, with Cyborg's sonic cannon deployed and Robin armed to the teeth with his many Bat Clan weapons.

Starfire raised her hand, holding them back. Robin noticed the blue light first. "You'd better have a good explanation for what happened, Raven." The Boy Wonder growled at her.

"She does. Now do not interrupt the healing."

The other arm cast crumbled away, revealing a now second healthy arm as Raven moved on and began to heal Beast Boy's broken leg.

"I don't get it." Cyborg complained. "First she tries to kill him, and now she's healing him?"

"She wasn't herself, dude." Beast Boy tried to tell his friend.

"Don't tell me you're buying that crap, BB?" a new female voice joined the fray.

"Terra!" he shouted with joy as the Geomancer ran up to him, planting a sloppy kiss on his lips.

"No Terra, really, she's sorry. She really is."

"She's only here cuz no one else would take her in."

That was the second reason why Raven returned.

After she left the cemetery she went to Steele City to see if the Titans East would take her in. Unfortunately for her word of her dastardly deed had spread like wildfire and Bumblebee wouldn't even see her. Aqualad met her at the door.

"You'd better leave Raven. You're not welcome here."

"I'm a Teen Titan, for Azar's sake, what do you mean I'm not welcome here?"

Speedy showed up next. "We've heard it all, Raven. You almost killed Beast Boy." She could see the fear in his eyes.

"This is ridiculous, I need to see Bumblebee, now!" the sorceress growled. She gasped as she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder.

"It's time for you to leave." An unfamiliar voice said from behind her. She turned around and gasped when she saw who it was.

"Superman?" she said, her monotone having failed her she was unable to hide the astonishment in her voice.

"Sorry Raven." Speedy interrupted. "I called the Justice League for help. After hearing what you did to Beast Boy we couldn't take any chances."

"I thought you were my friends." She replied bitterly.

"We thought you were Beast Boy's friend."

The accusation stung and without saying another word she phased into the ground and disappeared.

She then went to Central City to see if she could stay with Jinx and Kid flash for a while. Of all people, she hoped that Jinx might be able to understand. She materialized in front of the tall apartment building where the couple shared an apartment. The front door was locked and there was no doorman. Bypassing the intercom she phased through the door and stepped into an awaiting elevator, which she rode to the 23rd floor. She got off and walked to apartment 2314. She stopped in front of it and quietly knocked on the door.

Kid Flash opened it wide, knowing well that a simple closed door could not keep the demoness out of their apartment. He was dressed in his civies and Jinx stood behind him, with a nervous look on her face.

"Can I crash with you guys tonight?" the empath asked in her deadpan monotone.

Wally and Jinx looked at each other with nervous expressions on their faces before Jinx answered.

"I'm sorry Raven, but wouldn't be a good idea."

She tried all the other honorary Titans, and was rebuffed by all of them. She had no money on her and was about to spend the night under a bridge before deciding to return to the Tower.

"Someone offered to take me in." she replied softly.

"Oh that's rich!" Terra mocked her. "Who? Slade?"

Raven turned to the blond girl and nodded quietly.

"You have got to be kidding!" Robin moaned.

"He's been spying on you. The whole Tower's bugged."

"Nuh uh!" Cyborg interjected. "The Tower's clean. I guarantee it!"

Raven continued healing Beast Boy's leg. "He's using some advanced technology. He showed me a hologram of you gathered around Garfield here in the infirmary."

"Bullshit!" Terra accused her. "She's making this up to get back into the Tower."

"You said I was incapable of love because I'm a demon."

The room fell silent until Cyborg broke the silence. "Damn!"

"He's probably watching us right now." Raven informed them as the last cast crumbled away.

"You have failed me Slade" the voice accused him as he watched a replay of the scene in the infirmary. "She did not choose to join us. She remained faithful to them."

"She's no threat to us in her current state." Slade reassured his master. "It's obvious they do not trust her."

"She's a threat to me as long as she's in the Tower. I will drive her out a second time, and this time you will eliminate her, permanently."

"You ask for a lot, my master. Even in her current state she remains a formidable opponent. Defeating her will not be easy."

"I don't want to hear excuses Slade. I want her eliminated, and this time I cannot assist you, you must do it alone. Do you understand?"

"Yes, my master. I will do it. But a word of warning, do not betray me when I deliver the goods."

"I am not Trigon Slade; you will be paid, handsomely, just as I promised you."

"You really can come up with 1 billion dollars?" Slade asked.

"Not in cash, but in gold, platinum and precious jewels, as we already discussed."

"Very well then. Consider it done."


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Cyborg entered the common room with a grunt. He was loaded down with all sorts of strange devices and sensors. The look on his face expressed both triumph and disgust. As he entered the room no one seemed to notice his arrival. Robin and Starfire were sitting at the table holding hands while sharing sweet nothings with each other, oblivious to the tin man's arrival. Raven and Beast Boy were sitting together reading on the circular couch. Terra was leaning against a kitchen countertop; her arms crossed and giving Raven a death glare.

"He was spying on us with nanoprobes." Cyborg complained to no one in particular. "They got into our systems, databases, everything. They were even in me!"

Raven looked up from her place on the old circular couch.

"Did you say something, Cyborg?"

"Hello! I found the bugs! They were nanoprobes man! I've never seen anything like them before. Where does Slade get this stuff?"

"Probably from my father." The sorceress said absentmindedly as she resumed reading her book. She was caressing Beast Boy's hand again, out of sight from the others, but stopped as she sensed Terra approach them.

"What's so interesting about that book BB that you won't take me out to lunch?" Terra accused him in a sweet sing song voice.

Beast Boy paused and put down his book, a hardbound version of 'The Fellowship of the Ring', which Raven returned to him.

Terra picked up the book and opened it. The first thing she saw was a dedication Raven had written on the title page:

_To Garfield_

_My Best Friend_

_All My Love_

_Raven / xoxo_

Terra's face became red as a tomato.

"What the hell is this, BB?"

"Raven wrote me a dedication. What's the big deal?"

"What's the big deal? How about 'All my love'?"

"It's just a figure of speech Terra." Raven explained. "It's nothing to get upset about."

"You just watch yourself, Raven. I know that you're trying to come between me and BB. I'm not stupid you know!"

_If anyone comes between you and BB, it'll be you, you blond bimbo._

"Garfield, why don't you take Terra to Disneyland? I recall that you and Heather had a great time when you went last time."

"Who's Heather?" Terra asked Beast Boy in an accusatory tone.

"Uh, just a girl I used to date." He replied nervously.

"Yeah, she was a real looker too." Raven added. "Tall and leggy, just the way Garfield likes 'em."

"Raven." Beast Boy whispered. "Are you trying to get me into trouble?"

Raven patted his hand reassuringly.

"Like I said, why don't you lovebirds go to Disneyland tomorrow? You can have some quality time away from the rest of us."

Terra brightened.

"Sure. Why not? We'll have a great time, right BB?"

Beast Boy glanced at Raven out of the corner of his eye.

She was up to something.

Now one might think that Raven was being either selfless or benevolent suggesting that he spend a whole day alone with her rival, but the truth was she was being underhanded. She knew well that Terra would eventually alienate Beast Boy with her possessiveness, and when that happened she could pick up the pieces. Raven wasn't above catching the changeling on the rebound, especially since she still felt that Terra had stolen him from under her nose. But she also knew that if they spent the whole day together that she could expedite the fireworks with a few subtle and not so subtle tactics.

Beast Boy and Terra got up early to head down to Anaheim. Cyborg agreed to let them take the T-Car on their outing and Beast Boy wanted to leave before the Tin Man changed his mind. So he and Terra entered the common room quietly at 5:00 AM to have a quick bite before hitting the road, only to find Raven waiting for them. She was sitting at kitchen table, sipping on her usual herbal tea.

"Oh good, you're still here. I got something for both of you."

"Raven, you shouldn't have." Terra replied. "I really mean it, you shouldn't have."

The sorceress ignored her and pulled out a couple of sweatshirts from a shopping bag. She handed the first one to Beast Boy. It had a green Mickey on it.

"Rae! That is so cool! Thanks!" he gushed as she helped him slip it on, after which he pecked her on the cheek.

"You're welcome! And here's yours Terra."

Terra unfolded hers. It had a collection of various Disney female villains on it: The Wicked Witch from Snow White, Maleficent, Ursula, etc.

"Come one Terra, put it on!" Beast Boy beamed.

The Geomancer reluctantly slipped on the pink sweatshirt.

"It's definitely you, Terra." Raven remarked. "Now you two go have fun. And don't worry about us. Cyborg's changed all the passwords, there's no way Slade can get into the Tower." She said as she kissed Beast Boy on the cheek.

Terra grabbed Beast Boy by the wrist and dragged him out of the common room. As soon as the doors slid shut Raven did something she rarely did. She grinned.

"That was too easy." Raven remarked to herself.

Terra was fuming as they got into the T-Car.

"Why did you kiss her?" she snarled.

"It was only on the cheek Terra." He replied as he drove the T-Car out of the garage.

"You didn't answer my question."

"She did something nice for us."

"You mean this stupid ugly sweatshirt she gave me?"

"It's not ugly."

"It's a villain's sweatshirt!"

"Yeah, it's kinda cool."

"Forget it!" She said in a huff.

Raven was busy doing some knitting when Beast Boy and Terra returned unexpectedly early from their outing. He told the Titans to not expect them back until well past midnight, but it was now only 3:30 in the afternoon. Beast Boy walked into the room alone, and sat down next to Raven.

"What happened?" she asked in her monotone. "You're back early."

"Terra was a pain the whole time."

"A pain? How was she a pain?" Raven asked innocently, without looking up from her knitting.

"Dude! She wouldn't stop talking about you."

"Really? What did she say?"

"That you're trying to steal me from her."

"Whatever gave her that idea?"

Beast Boy grinned as he draped an arm around Raven's neck.

"You did."

Raven feigned a look of shock.

"Me?"

"Yeah, you." He chuckled.

"She's imagining things." Raven replied with a smirk.

"You were right Raven, Terra's koo koo labonza."

"I never said that." She replied coolly.

"So you said she's bad news. Same difference."

"We have a problem Slade."

"We do, Master?"

"Don't be coy Slade. Beast Boy is bonding with Raven again."

"So you are saying that you have lost your grip on him, Terra?" Slade smirked behind his mask.

"Shut up Slade, I'm still in charge, and don't you forget that."

"You are? I beg to differ. You no longer have anything that I want."

"I still have the money, Slade."

"As payment for an impossible job Terra. How long did it take you to accumulate all that gold and jewels? You must have spent a long time digging for it."

"Long enough. You didn't really think I was trapped in that statue in the cave, did you?"

"That was a good ruse, Terra, even worthy of me. I will say that you came back too soon. When Beast Boy saw you on the street you blew your cover."

"That was a bit of bad luck. I was hoping to get rid of Raven first before making my triumphant return."

"Well Terra, I would say that it's been fun, but it hasn't been."

"Very funny Slade. I have a new proposition for you."

"I'll give you credit Terra, when it comes to the green boy you don't give up. Nevertheless there comes a time when one should cut his losses and run."

"Are you saying I've failed?"

"You tell me. How did your 'date' with your boyfriend go today? I only ask because Cyborg's removed all my bugs from the Tower."

"Don't make me get angry, Slade. Are you interested in hearing my new proposition or not?"

"Humor me."

The Geomancer bristled. Just two weeks ago she had Beast Boy eating out of her hand and Slade was her servant. Now the changeling was starting to spend time with the sorceress again and Slade was taunting her.

"Listen Slade, if you're not going to take this seriously I'll just get someone else to do the job. Maybe The Joker might find a billion dollars in gold and jewels to be enough of a reason to play ball with me?"

Slade snorted derisively. "Be my guest Terra, it's your funeral. All you would accomplish is getting Batman on your tail, and believe me you don't want that."

"Don't patronize me."

"Tell you what, Terra, let's lie low for a while. We can reconvene later. In the meantime I'd suggest being especially nice to your boyfriend. You might still be able to salvage your relationship with him."

"So now you're a marriage counselor Slade?"

"I am a jack of all trades."

The blond grimaced, unseen over the audio only link.

"I've got to go. Someone's coming."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

The room was dark, except for the minimal light provided by the banker's lamp on the desktop. It was covered with all sorts of loose papers, which a gloved hand swept off the desk in a fit of anger. The papers fell to the floor like oversized snowflakes.

"It doesn't make any sense." A voice grumbled. "But why am I surprised? When he's involved, nothing ever makes sense."

Robin began to clean up the mess he made in his office. He slowly picked up the papers, sorted them and placed them in a neat stack on his desk.

_All of the clues I found about Slade pointed to Terra, but it turns out he's really after Raven. Terra has to fit into his scheme, but how?_

Robin leaned back in his chair, rubbing his temples when there was a knock on his door. He punched a button on his desk and the door slide open. It was Raven, who cautiously entered Robin's sanctum. She immediately noticed the overall darkness of the room and the many crime oriented trophies that lined the walls. She walked up to Slade's cracked mask, a trophy from when they all rescued Robin from Slade's 'apprenticeship'.

"And people say I'm the dark Titan."

Robin frowned. "What can I do for you Raven?"

"I was going to ask you the same question Robin. I could sense your stress all the way from my room."

The Boy Wonder leaned back in his chair. "Things don't add up Raven, they just don't, and it's driving me crazy."

Raven pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Maybe I can help."

"I don't know." He replied. "It's about Slade."

"Is it ever not?" She replied.

"Very funny Raven. Do you want to help me or not?"

"Of course I do. Anyway, you're always telling me to lighten up. I was just returning the favor."

"Touché." He replied. "Ok, here's the deal. Something doesn't add up with Terra."

Raven suppressed the urge to blurt out 'No shit Sherlock', but instead merely nodded.

"All the evidence that I found says that Slade was after her when she was a student at that school: I found video surveillance equipment, audio bugs, etc. on the school premises. And when she sent Beast Boy packing Slade even had one of his Slade-bots to tell him to stay away from her."

"And then Slade tries to recruit me away from the team after the 'incident'."

"Exactly. By the way, how are you doing with Rage these days?"

"I'm not taking any chances, if that's what you're wondering. I visit Nevermore on a daily basis now. It took some effort, but Rage is under my control now. I'll never let Rage control me or hurt Garfield again. I'll die before I allow that to happen."

Robin shifted in his chair out of his slouch into an upright position, clearly curious. "Why Beast Boy? Why did she hurt him?"

Raven shook her head. "Not she. Me. Rage isn't a 3rd party in my head Robin. She's part of me and I let my guard down. When Garfield turned down my … offer, I lost it. That's when I realized that I didn't really have Rage under control."

"But now you do?" he asked, seeking confirmation.

"Yes, I have resumed the daily meditations required to keep Rage in check. And I will continue to do them for the rest of my life. I promise."

"I see." He replied. "So getting back to our original topic, what do I do about Terra?"

"You're asking the wrong person." She replied.

"What do you mean?" he asked innocently.

She gave him a look that said 'oh, come on' before answering.

"Robin, it should be obvious even to someone as clueless as you that Terra and I are rivals."

Robin glared at the empath, not appreciating the put down. But he wasn't surprised, this was Raven after all.

"I still value your opinion."

"You've always known it. I don't trust her, never have."

"But we can't just toss her out the door. What if Slade's really after her?"

Raven looked pensive for a minute and answered in her monotone.

"Send her to Titans East."

Robin nodded. "Tell you what. I'm gonna have a chat with her. If I can't find out what's going on from her, I think I will send her to Steele City."

He then gave her a coy look.

"This advice doesn't have anything to do with you and Beast Boy does it?"

"So what if it does? That doesn't mean my suggestion isn't sound."

Robin grinned at his friend.

"I'll talk with Terra once they get back from LA."

"Oh, they're already back. She's locked in her room."

"So soon? What happened?"

Raven shrugged. "Trouble in Paradise?"

"I'm sure you're heartbroken."

"Have a nice chat with her." she said as she walked out of his office, concealing a huge grin on her face from him.

Robin knocked on Terra's door. When it opened Terra had a big smile on her face, which vanished as soon as she saw who it was.

"Sorry, I'm not Beast Boy. You gotta minute?"

Terra stepped out of the way and motioned the Boy Wonder to enter. The room hadn't changed in years. Robin had wanted Cyborg to gut the room and turn it into a generic guest room, but Beast Boy pleaded with him to spare it. Robin walked in, looking at the Starlight effect on the ceiling.

"Wassup Robin?"

"Slade's up." He replied tersely. "Something doesn't add up Terra, and I'm hoping that you might be able to shed some light on the situation."

"What do you mean?"

"Slade was obsessing over you while you were a student at Murakami High. I found all kinds of bugs on the school premises. He was keeping a close watch on you."

"So? I thought we already knew that?" She replied.

"Yes, but he seems to have suddenly lost all interest in you. Any idea why?"

"How am I supposed to know?" She answered with a hint of annoyance.

"That's too bad. Because now I have a situation."

"A situation? What are you talking about?"

"I have to assume that Slade still has you in his cross hairs. And we now know that he's been trying to recruit Raven."

"And?"

"It's too risky Terra; we can't protect both you and Raven from Slade."

"Who says I need protection?"

"We were considering sending you back to your foster parents. Are you OK with that?"

She paused, realizing she had been cornered.

"I see your point. It would place my foster parents and the school in danger."

"Exactly, which is why I'm sending you to Titans East. At least until we figure this out."

Terra's mind began to race. The last thing she wanted was to be pushed out of the Tower, leaving Beast Boy alone with … her.

"You really think I'll really be safer with them?"

"Steele City is close to Gotham. Slade won't go anywhere near Gotham, at least I hope he won't."

"Why? Cuz he's afraid of the Bat?"

"In so many words, yes."

Terra sighed, and decided to play her last card, already knowing it wouldn't wash with Robin.

"What about Beast Boy? Am I just supposed to leave my boyfriend behind?"

"I'd send him with you Terra, but we really need him here. I'm Sorry."

Terra knew she had no choice but to accept.

"So when do I leave?"

"Today. Start packing your suitcase. And take everything with you; it might be an extended stay."

If anyone had seen Raven return to her room they might have sworn that they saw a spring in her step, even though she levitated the whole way back. They would have also seen a smile on her face and heard her humming happily to herself.

It was time for her daily meditations, but she was wondering if she would be able to settle down enough to do them. Not that she really wanted to, as she was experiencing that rare emotion that seldom crossed her path: happiness.

As she reached her room she phased through her door and finally landed on her feet. Now that she was alone in the privacy of her room she could drop her inhibitions.

"Yes, yes, YES!" she shouted as she pumped her arm. "The bitch is leaving!"

Raven walked to the foot of her bed and let herself fall backwards onto it, her arms spread wide. _Life is good_ she thought to herself as she stared at the ceiling. She closed her eyes and began to plan what she would do as soon as Terra was gone. One thing she knew for certain, she wasn't going to be a "good sport" and respect the Geomancer's relationship with the changeling. Forget that! Garfield was all hers now, and she wasn't going to allow Terra to hang on to him. She knew that she had to tread carefully, as Beast Boy was a bit sentimental and might feel some residual tug of loyalty to the blond. Raven then grinned wickedly. If Terra departed after fighting with Garfield, it would be over once and for all.

A loud, angry knock on her door brought Raven back into reality.

_So Robin's had his chat with her. That was quick._

With a wave of her hand Raven opened her sliding door. The Geomancer charged in without waiting to be invited.

"RAVEN!" She screamed. "This is your doing! Don't deny it!"

"What is my doing? What happened?"

"Don't act dumb Raven. I know you're behind this."

"Behind what?" She replied in her monotone.

"Argh! I hate it when you talk like that!"

"Talk like what?"

"Like a robot!" Terra replied, clearly on the verge of losing it. Raven knew it was time to circle in for the kill. Terra had once taken advantage of her anger, now it was Raven's chance to return the favor.

"Terra, you need to calm down. You're being irrational. Now will you please tell me what happened?"

Terra's face was consumed with anger and both of her hands were balled into fists.

"You talked Robin into sending me away! And don't deny it."

"I did no such thing. I did suggest the option to him, and he selected it out of a collection of many other options. It's the best option we have now to deal with Slade."

"Bullshit! You're sending me away to keep BB for yourself. You've been turning him away from me!"

"You've done that yourself Terra, with your paranoid obsession to control every aspect of his life."

Terra leaped on Raven and began to pummel her. Raven tried to fend her off using martial arts techniques, but Terra was pumped up with adrenaline and with her training at Slade's hand she was proving to be a daunting adversary, connecting several blows to the sorceress's face. Raven felt her face wet with blood and her nose was broken as well. She prepared to up the ante and use her dark energy to defend herself when Robin and Beast Boy charged into the room.

"Terra!" Robin shouted. "What are you doing?"

Beast Boy was less verbal. He grabbed the blond by the shoulders and pulled her away from Raven, throwing the girl towards Robin, who subdued her. Beast Boy then slipped his left arm behind Raven, lifting her to a sitting position while wiping the blood from her face with his gloved hand.

"Are you OK, Raven?" The changeling asked.

Raven nodded. Terra's attack had caught her by surprise, but she now realized that lady luck was on her side.

"Terra!" Robin barked. "Report to the hangar immediately. Cyborg is gonna take you to Steele City right now!"

The blond relaxed as Robin released her, only to tense up as she saw Beast Boy hug Raven. Raven's still bloodied face peered over Beast Boy's shoulder and she made eye contact with Terra, who heard the demoness's voice in her head as Raven smiled and rested her head on Garfield's shoulder.

_Good bye, Terra. You lose._

Terra saw the outline of the Titans East headquarters as Cyborg guided the T-Ship to the landing pad. She had spent the past few hours stewing in her own juices.

First of all she was furious that she let herself be outsmarted by Raven. She underestimated the witch and was now paying for it. No doubt Raven was playing up her bloodied face for everything it was worth, earning Beast Boy's sympathy. To lose her boyfriend to the ice queen, it was more than she could handle. And to add insult to injury, Raven cleverly orchestrated her exile to the other side of the continent. Terra would now have to live with the so called Titans East, who she had never met. And to top it off she couldn't ditch them without tipping her hand. She was painted into a corner.

As the T-Ship landed Terra saw the motley crew that was there to greet her: a dark girl dressed up like a bug, some pre-pubescent twins, a guy who looked like Robin Hood and … what was this?

_Not bad, not bad at all._ She thought as she saw a dark haired boy in the unitard. _Maybe my stay here won't be all that bad._

As Terra emerged from the T-Ship she saw that Cyborg was already chatting with the bug girl. She approached them cautiously. When Cyborg saw her he interrupted his conversation with Bumblebee.

"Y'all, this is Terra Markov. She's a Geomancer, which means that she can manipulate earthly materials like rocks, dirt and mud using nothing but her willpower. She's also pretty handy with her fists."

He then proceeded to introduce the Titans East team to Terra.

"Well you guys, I gotta run! Your bag is over there Terra. If you need anything, just holler." Cyborg shouted as he climbed into the cockpit of the T-Ship and left in a hurry. Terra watched the T-Ship get smaller and smaller until she couldn't see it anymore.

"Speedy, would you mind taking Terra's bag to her room? And Terra, you come with me."

Terra followed Bumblebee to her office, where she was offered a chair to sit down.

"I've heard that you fight a lot with Raven."

"That's an exaggeration."

"So you do fight with her?"

"More like she picks on me all the time."

"Terra, I want to be clear about this. I won't tolerate altercations between you and my team. My rule is one strike and you're out. Understand?"

"You mean you'd kick me out, like into the street?"

"Good, I see you understand."

"Don't worry Bumblebee; I'll be a model Titan."

"A model guest. You're not a Titan anymore, remember?"

"Right, I keep forgetting that."

Bumblebee grinned. "I'm glad we've come to an understanding."

Terra smiled as she thought to herself. _Why_ _is it that the anal retentive jerks always end up being the leaders?_

"Me too." She replied politely.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

It was a quiet December afternoon and things were quiet in the Tower. Christmas had come and gone and there hadn't been a major incident that required the Titan's attention since Terra departed. The Christmas tree was still up, now looking lonely without the pile of brightly wrapped gifts that used to adorn its base.

The five Titan's were sitting on the couch. A minor college bowl game was on the TV, but only Cyborg was paying any attention to it. It was the Popeye's Fried Chicken Bowl or something, even Cyborg wasn't sure.

Starfire was wearing the cardigan Robin gave her for Christmas. It was very stylish and the alien princess wore it proudly even thought it wasn't cold in the common room. Then again, even if were cold she wouldn't have needed the wool sweater, as she was sitting on Robin's lap, engaged in a heavy duty snogfest, moaning softly with each prolonged kiss she shared with her boyfriend.

Raven and Beast Boy sat quietly at the other end of the couch, reading as they now seemed to always do. Beast Boy had now moved on to The Two Towers which he was reading with a great deal of intensity. Raven was holding her Christmas present in her left hand. She had removed the glove from his hand and their fingers were interlaced. He asked her if she would be his girlfriend quietly and in private on Christmas Eve. She still couldn't remember what other gifts she received for Christmas. She wasn't sure she had even unwrapped them.

"Robin, Starfire, would you mind getting a room?" Raven asked in her monotone.

The smooching couple ignored her and continued with their make out session.

"Robin, Starfire! Do you mind? Some of us are trying to read!"

Robin paused, as if catching his breath.

"You know what Raven? You should try kissing your boyfriend. You might actually like it."

Raven glared at the Boy Wonder for what felt like an eternity. She then bookmarked her page and put her book down on the coffee table. Beast Boy watched her and did the same.

Then with no warning she pounced on Beast Boy, knocking him onto his back on the couch, pinning him down and locking her lips with his.

"Mmph!" was the only sound he made as he flailed his arms and legs, which soon went limp and "Mmmmm!" became the only sound to escape from his lips. Within seconds his hands were wrapped around the sorceress who herself began to moan with pleasure.

Robin stared in shock while Starfire clapped her hands in glee. Cyborg dropped his bowl of chips which hit the carpeted floor with a dull thud. The two boys exchanged glances, not knowing who should say something first. Starfire beat them to the punch.

"Oh friends! This is glorious! The rumors are true! You are now a couple! I will celebrate your new romance by singing the 'Ode to Unlikely Love', all 738 verses!"

Raven and Beast Boy continued unabated, as if they hadn't heard the Tamaranian's friendly threat.

Cyborg picked up his snack bowl and got up from the couch.

"Uh, the T-Car's overdue for an oil change. I'll be in the garage."

Robin eyed Starfire nervously as she began to warm up her voice.

"Uh Star, wanna go to the mall? I heard there's a sale at the Tokidoki store."

"There is!? Then let us make with the haste before all the good merchandise is gone!" She said as she grabbed his hand and they literally flew out of the common room.

After a few minutes passed Raven stopped kissing Garfield and sat up, her hair mussed, noticing the now empty common room.

"Where'd everybody go?"

"Who cares?" Beast Boy replied as he pulled her back into another kiss.

Christmas at Titans East had been a different affair, at least for Terra. She hadn't heard from Beast Boy since she arrived and he refused all her calls. There was no Christmas present from him under the tree and the only card she received from Jump City was a generic "Seasons Greetings" from the entire team that wasn't even signed by them and had a preprinted greeting in it: "The Teen Titans wish you a happy holiday season!" She was on a mailing list, which meant she received the same greeting card that was sent to such other illustrious recipients like the newspaper boy and the milkman.

Terra was feeling lonely since her arrival. She hadn't clicked with any of the Titans East and her attempts to flirt with Aqualad bombed. She found herself alone most of the time and decided that she wasn't having fun. She was wandering the halls of the building and found herself in the common room. It was different from the old common room in Jump City, not that she really cared. Her stomach growled and she decided to raid the fridge as she hadn't eaten anything all day. She found Mas Y Menos sitting at the table, eating a second lunch. She could only imagine what kind of metabolism they had as they always seemed to be eating. They hadn't seen her as they were engaged in a lively conversation.

Mas: "Ya oiste la noticia?"

Menos: "Cual?"

Mas: "Que no sabes? Beast Boy se declaro a la Señorita Raven!"

Menos: "Son novios? Que noticia mas linda! Ya era hora, a poco no?"

Terra had learned to speak Spanish back in California and she understood every word they said.

"Mentiras!" she shouted. "It's a lie! Beast Boy is my boyfriend, not Raven's."

The twins nearly fell out of their seats, surprised by both Terra's presence and her outburst.

"No se enoje Señorita Terra." Mas attempted to calm her down.

"Don't tell me how to feel, you little pipsqueak! I'll be angry if I want to!"

Mas took her hand and tried to soothe her. "Estas cosas pasan, pero no se preocupe, una muchacha tan linda como usted no tarda en encontrar otro novio, ya verá."

"I don't want another boyfriend you idiot, yo ya tengo uno!"

"Por favor, cálmese Señorita Terra." Menos pleaded with her.

Bumblebee was walking down the hallway when she heard the ruckus in the common room. She ran quickly to investigate and as the doors slid open she was greeted by the sight of Terra punching Menos in the face while shouting "Callate estupido, shut up!"

"Terra! In my office, right now!" Bumblebee snapped at her.

Terra stopped pummeling the small boy and silently followed Bumblebee to her office. The Titans East leader quietly shut the door behind her before turning to the Geomancer.

"Care to explain yourself?"

Terra sighed, knowing well that she couldn't explain away what had happened, but still gave it her best shot.

"They said something that disturbed me, and I kind of lost it." She replied meekly.

"And what was this alleged insult that made you go berserk?"

Terra stared at the floor and swallowed before continuing.

"They said that Beast Boy dumped me and that he's Raven's boyfriend now."

"What!? You attacked a member of my team for telling you the truth?"

"What do you mean it's the truth?" Terra shouted angrily as she stood up, her eyes glowing yellow.

"Oh no you don't! You don't scare me, little missy!"

"Don't lie to me Bumblebee. He never told me that we were through!"

"I thought that it was obvious, since he won't return your calls."

"That's a lie!" Terra shouted. "You're all working together to make me lose him!"

Bumblebee stared silently at the Geomancer, her eyes as cold as steel.

"Pack your bags Terra, you're outta here."

"What?"

"You heard me. I won't tolerate your violent outbursts. You have 30 minutes to leave on your own or we'll throw you out."

"And where am I supposed to go?"

"Bumblebee opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out the petty cash box. She flipped it open and counted the money it contained.

"Here's $847 dollars. That should tide you by for a while until you can find a job." The bug girl said as she handed Terra the cash.

"I don't want your stupid money!" Terra spat as she slapped the cash out of Bumblebee's hand. "And I don't need 30 minutes. My bag's ready and I'm leaving now!"

Robin was the first to return to the common room. Much to his relief Raven and Beast Boy were once again holding hands while each reading their own book. He walked slowly and quietly to the circular couch, stopping about 1 meter away from it, directly behind the two bookworms.

"What is it Robin? Raven asked in her monotone, without turning around.

"I have some bad news."

Beast Boy turned around. "You got it backwards Robin. Raven and I being way better at making out than you and Star is good news. At least it is from where I'm sitting." The changeling taunted him as Raven squeezed his hand.

"I'm not joking guys. Terra got into a fight with Mas Y Menos and Bumblebee kicked her out two hours ago."

Raven quickly turned around, making eye contact with Robin.

"What do you mean by 'kicked out'? Where is she going? Is she coming back here?"

"Kicked out, as in her ass landed on the sidewalk. And no one knows where she went Raven. She simply disappeared into thin air."

Raven stood up, a scowl was painted across her face.

"What happened? Why did they kick her out?" The empath asked.

"She started beating up Mas Y Menos when they told her that you and Beast Boy were now a couple."

"Well that's just peachy! We once again have a psychotic Terra on the loose, and this time she's obsessed with Garfield."

"Don't worry guys." Robin tried to reassure them. "We're having a team meeting in 15 minutes; we'll come up with a plan to deal with this. Terra isn't gonna hurt anyone. Not on my watch."

Terra stepped off the bus at the Gotham Central Bus Depot. The depot was rough and grimy, as were most of the people in it. She slung her knapsack over her back as she made her way through the sea of anonymous faces, working her way to the exit. The terminal reeked of sweat and urine and she was glad once she had made her way out to the street, where she hailed a cab.

"Where to doll face?" The grubby driver asked her.

She considered staying at one of the many flophouses that were common in Gotham, they didn't ask for any ID, but she reconsidered, as none where close to where she wanted to be that night.

"Take me to the Cambridge Hotel." She instructed the driver.

"You sure you wanna go there, Miss? It's not the best part of town; it can get kinda rough there."

"The Cambridge will be fine."

Raven sat uneasily in the new conference room Cyborg had set up next to the commons as she and Beast Boy waited for the others to arrive. She held his hand, repeatedly squeezing it nervously. She knew what Terra was going to do; it was as obvious as the Chakra stone on her forehead. Terra was coming for Beast Boy and she wouldn't take no for an answer this time.

"Rae, Raven!" Beast Boy repeated as he squeezed her hand back.

"Huh? What is it Garfield?"

"Relax! I know you're worried about Terra coming back, but there's no point in worrying."

Raven sighed. She knew he was right. But this was different, it was personal. How could she not worry?

Cyborg, Robin and Starfire arrived at the same time and took their places.

Robin cleared his throat and commenced the meeting.

"As you've all heard Terra was expelled by Titans East for assaulting Mas Y Menos. From what Bumblebee has reported Terra's outburst was triggered by the news that Raven and Beast Boy are now a couple. At this point in time Terra's whereabouts remain unknown and her plan of action is a mystery."

"A mystery? Robin, it's obvious that she's coming back for Garfield." Raven interrupted.

"No Raven." He corrected her. "It's not obvious. There is some likelihood that she might try that, but there is no evidence to back up that conclusion."

"You can't be serious Robin!" She complained. "She's completely obsessed with him, what else is she going to do?"

"She might just disappear for a while and lie low. She might get over her infatuation with Beast Boy."

Raven's face was beginning to turn red. "Infatuation? You make it sound like she's a schoolgirl with a crush on Garfield."

Robin rubbed the back of his neck. "When you think about it, that isn't too far off the mark."

Raven snorted with disgust, but calmed down somewhat when Beast Boy wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"So what's your plan, Rob?" Cyborg asked.

"For now, nothing. Our current defense systems should suffice. We can change our tactics as we learn more."

Raven glared at Robin. Without breaking eye contact she addressed the Tamaranian.

"Starfire, would you do me a favor?"

"Of course friend, unless it involves inflicting bodily harm on Robin."

"A great idea, but no. Would you mind bringing one of the spare beds from the basement and putting it in my room?"

"I would be happy to do that. Is there something wrong with your bed friend Raven?"

"My bed is fine." She said, finally breaking eye contact with Robin. "I need the second bed for Garfield. He's staying with me at night until Terra's been captured."

Raven saw a few raised eyebrows around the table.

"Oh grow up! If I was planning any monkey business with Garfield I wouldn't announce it in a team meeting, would I?"

"Of course not friend Raven. You only wish to protect your beloved from danger, as do I with Robin."

Raven sighed. "That's right Starfire. If Bird Boy won't protect Garfield from that maniac, then I will."

The taxi pulled up to the hotel. As was the case with most structures in Gotham the Cambridge Hotel was gothic in its architecture. It was an old building, at least by American standards, about 100 years old. It had been one of Gotham's finest hotels back in its day, but now its location across the river from the Narrows made it a less than desirable destination. As Terra stepped into the lobby she was surprised to see that some attempt had been made to keep up the hotel, but that wasn't why she was here. The Cambridge didn't ask for IDs upon check in and didn't raise any eyebrows when guests paid their bills in cash. It was also near a few pubs and bars that she wanted to visit.

Terra checked in under the pseudonym of 'Stacy White' and prepaid for 4 nights. The Bell Hop guided her to her room and she tipped him $5. The room was clean and classy, if a bit outdated in its style. Her watch indicated that it was only 7:30 PM. It was still a bit early to go out to search for what brought her to Gotham, but she knew where to look. She learned a few things from Slade, and she knew that if she went to the 'Stacked Deck' after 10 PM there was a good chance she'd find what she was looking for. She picked up the phone and dialed for room service, ordering a cheeseburger with fries and a Dr. Pepper. She kicked off her shoes and turned on the TV. The local news was on and Summer Gleason was reporting on a breakout at Arkham Asylum. Some things never changed.

Terra's dinner arrived and she paid cash for it and tipped the staff person well. She ate slowly as she watched the rest of the news followed by some inane talk show. Soon enough it was 10 PM, and Terra headed out, seeking her prey.

Beast Boy couldn't believe his luck as he carried his chest of drawers over to Raven's room, while morphed as a gorilla. As he arrived at her room the door was open and back in human form he peeked in nervously. Starfire had already brought the spare bed to Raven's room and the sorceress was busy getting it setup with some fresh sheets.

"Come in." she said in her monotone. "Just put your bureau over there." She pointed to an empty space along the wall.

"Thanks for doing this Rae. I do feel a little better not being alone."

"I still can't believe that Robin doesn't believe she's a threat. He can be so obtuse about her."

"I think you're right, Terra's lost it. She's nuts."

Beast Boy took over from Raven and finished making his bed while she stepped into her bathroom to prepare for the night. As in all things she was prompt and efficient and emerged from the bathroom in just a few minutes, her teeth brushed and she changed into some flannel pajamas. Beast Boy slipped in and was also ready for bed when he emerged.

Raven was already in her bed, reading yet another book. He strolled up to her bedside and gave her a goodnight kiss on the cheek before heading to his bed. He slipped in and made himself comfortable, closing his eyes.

"Are you ready for lights out Gar?"

"Uh huh" was his sleepy reply.

Raven sat up in her bed and looked over at him.

"Gar, come here, and bring your pillow."

"Huh?" he said, half asleep already.

"Just do it."

The green boy walked over to her bed and slipped in as she had pulled the covers back for him. He cautiously stayed near the edge of the bed.

"Come closer, you're gonna fall off the bed if you stay over there."

Now wide awake he complied and scooted himself closer to Raven, who wrapped her arms around him and returned his goodnight kiss.

"Are you OK Rae?" He asked with a hint of concern in his voice.

"As long as you're safe, I'm OK."

The Stacked Deck was the epitome of a dive. It was loud and dirty, full of unsavory characters who were staring at her. Terra still had her Olive Oyl figure, but females were rare in the Stacked Deck and every pair of eyes was examining her hungrily.

"So what's a pretty lady like you doing here?" a two bit thug asked her.

"I'm looking for the strong man." She replied.

"I'm strong, maybe you're looking for me?"

"I don't think so." She snapped at him.

"Wrong answer." The thug replied as he grabbed Terra's wrist. Executing a perfect Jujitsu throw she slammed him into the ground. He was out cold. Several men got up from their tables and circled her.

"Dejenla!" A deep voice called from a dark corner and the toughs all returned to their seats.

"Well, well Señorita. It appears that you have found me." The deep voice now addressed her. "What can Bane do for you, Terra Markov?"

For the benefit of my non American readers: a "bowl game" is one of many post season games played by university (amateur) American Football Teams. These days most of these "bowls" are sponsored by corporations, which wasn't the case in the past. For instance the "Fiesta Bowl" became the "Tostitos Fiesta Bowl" (Tostitos is a brand of corn tortilla chips). Some of the newer bowl games are simply known by their sponsor's name, some of which are third rate companies, hence I made up "Popeye's Fried Chicken Bowl".


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Robin entered the common room at the crack of dawn, seeking a cup of coffee to jump start his system. As he entered the room he smelled the aroma of a freshly brewed pot, courtesy of the coffeemaker he always set up the night before. As he entered the kitchen he was surprised to find Starfire there, leaning against the counter, sipping a mug of her own.

"Morning, Star."

"Greetings, my beloved."

"Since when do you drink coffee?" he asked while he poured himself a cup.

"I have slowly acquired a taste for this bitter drink." She replied. "I have found it to be agreeable when mixed with hot chocolate powder mix."

"I think it's called mocha when you do that." He replied. "So did you take a spare bed to Raven's room?"

"I did."

Robin took a deep swig from his mug.

"So they spent the night together?"

"Yes, they did." She replied with a smile.

Robin sighed. "At least Raven had enough sense to get him his own bed."

"But he did not sleep in it!" she grinned.

"WHAT!?" Robin spewed his coffee. "How do you know that?"

"I peeked."

"How did you do that? Raven doesn't allow anyone in her room."

"I've had her entry code for some time. She gave it to me when friend Beast Boy was dating the Heather. We did a lot of the girl talk then."

Robin still looked shocked. "Please tell me that all they did was sleep."

Starfire gave him a dirty look.

"Robin, sometimes you can be so unromantic! Of course they did not engage in the coitus, if that is what you are worried about. But they looked so cute, sleeping together."

"Coitus?" Robin asked perplexed.

"She's sayin' they didn't have sex." Cyborg told him as he also poured himself a cup of coffee.

Robin almost jumped into the air.

"Sheesh Cyborg, you almost gave me a heart attack. When did you come in?

"Just now. And if I were you I would stop talking about this, unless you want Raven to hand your head to you on a platter."

Robin nodded in agreement. "You're right. Raven would kill us if she found out."

"If I found out what?" Raven asked in her monotone. She had phased into the room, still in her pajamas, also unnoticed.

"Uh, that I drank the last cup of coffee?" Cyborg replied nervously.

"Nice try, Victor. Now what were you saying about me behind my back?"

"Robin's weirded out that you and BB spent the night together."

Raven frowned. "Oh Azar, please don't tell me you're wondering if we were intimate last night."

"OK, the thought crossed my mind." The Boy Wonder replied.

Raven proceeded silently into the kitchen and pulled out a large tray, which she loaded with fruit, cereal, milk, juice and bread while her tea kettle was boiling some water. Once the kettle whistled she poured its contents into a tea pot with a few tea bags. She then picked up the tray and addressed the trio, who had been watching her in silence the whole time.

"Since you're all being stupid about this, Garfield and I will be having breakfast alone in my room."

She phased into the floor and disappeared.

"Well, that went better than expected!" Cyborg beamed. "So what do you guys want for breakfast?"

"Two lumberjack delights." Starfire replied. "And we will consume them in my room!" She giggled as she led a protesting Robin away, her vise like grip on his wrist.

_I guess Robin won't be sleeping in his room tonight. _The tin man chuckled to himself.

Several weeks had passed and there had been no sign of Terra. There had been a few ordinary missions, nothing out of the ordinary. Control Freak had escaped from prison and some weirdo who called himself the "TicketMaster" tried to steal money from the Jump City Jaguars basketball team's box office.

Raven began to wonder if perhaps Robin was right and that perhaps Terra had simply decided to leave them alone. Beast Boy suggested that they start venturing outside the Tower as he was getting cabin fever. He never did complain about their nightly slumber parties though, and those continued uninterrupted.

At first they were cautious and would just run out to catch a movie or grab a quick bite to eat at a restaurant. Cyborg made them a couple of holorings to disguise themselves, but Raven doubted they would fool Terra. Still it was pleasant to be able to eat a meal at a restaurant without being gawked at by their adoring fans.

Slowly the outings became longer and a little more relaxed. Soon they were spending afternoons in the park, kissing while lying on a blanket in the shade of a tree. Then they spent a day at the local amusement park and finally worked their way up to a whole day down the coast at Disneyland.

Robin tried not to be too smug about being right, and instead chose the high road as he and Starfire wished the chromatically challenged couple (author's note: I believe this was the first time I called them that), who now no longer bothered with disguises or holorings, a fun day at the Magic Kingdom as they left early in the morning. Starfire suggested they spend two days in Anaheim since it was Raven's first time. She booked them a room at the Disneyland hotel and was apparently even more excited than they were about the trip.

As Beast Boy and Raven pulled away in the new Ford Taurus Cyborg purchased for non mission road trips Starfire flew alongside the car and motioned for Raven to lower her window, which she did.

"Friend Raven! Do not forget to ride 'It's a Small World!'"

"If you say so Starfire!" Raven shouted back before she raised her window.

"Small World?" She asked Garfield in a quizzical tone.

"Ain't happening." Beast Boy replied.

"She'll be crushed if I don't."

"Trust me, you'll hate it!"

"Why? Because you do?"

"Have you ever been to the Tokidoki store at the mall?"

"Ugh! Starfire took me there once."

"It's worse. Much worse."

"I see your point. I still think we should ride it once, or I'll never hear the end of it from Starfire."

"OooKaayy" he replied. "But if you bail out don't leave me behind!"

Two hours later they reached the Disneyland Way exit from Interstate 5 and parked in the hotel parking garage.

Their first day had been a pleasant one. While they didn't disguise themselves, Beast Boy and Raven did wear normal civilian attire. Beast Boy thought Raven looked pretty hot dressed in jeans and the Tinkerbelle T-Shirt Starfire gave her. The parks weren't very crowded that first day and few people approached them to ask for autographs. Beast Boy as always was more than happy to sign the autograph books and pose for pictures, and even Raven got into the spirit of things, especially when the autograph requestors were young girls who dyed their hair purple and had it cut in Raven's trademarked A-line bob.

They were able to ride most of the rides the first day and other than getting drenched on Splash Mountain everything had been perfect, including the sumptuous dinner they had at the end of the day.

As they entered the park on the second day there was only one thing on Beast Boy's mind: 'It's a Small World After All'. He knew they had to ride it or Starfire would be crushed. His other concern was that the building that housed the attraction would be encased in obsidian light and explode if they did ride it. As they emerged from the tunnel under the train station into Main Street he squeezed Raven's hand.

"So, what do you wanna do first?"

"Let's just do the Small World thing and get it over with." She replied. "After that I wouldn't mind riding Indy again."

The celebrity couple, and yes they were now a celebrity couple as their photo made the cover of the most recent copy of People magazine, stopped by the Indiana Jones fastpass dispenser before heading on to their first attraction of the morning. Raven had seen the copy of People in the hotel's gift shop that morning and much to Beast Boy's relief she didn't freak out.

As they approached the queue for the "ride of enchanted dolls" as Starfire called it Beast Boy noticed the many topiary bushes in the outdoor queue area. He and Raven strolled slowly, hand in hand, viewing the botanical sculptures and had paused to admire a large elephant.

"Mom! Look! It's Raven and Beast Boy!" a little girl shouted as she bolted from her mother as they entered the queue area. "Take a picture Mom!" The girl shouted as she ran up to the heroes.

"Angelica! You come back here right now!" Her mother shouted, clearly embarrassed. "I'm so sorry." She apologized to the couple. "You're just here to have a good time, and not to be pestered."

"It's quite alright." Raven replied as she placed a hand on Angelica's shoulder. "We don't mind."

"That's very nice of you Miss Raven. Angelica is just crazy about the Teen Titans." She said as she fumbled in her purse for her camera. "Where did that camera go? Oh here it is." She pulled a simple point and click digital camera out of her purse and turned it on.

"Oh good, it's charged. Ok, everyone, say cheese!"

Raven, Beast Boy and the little girl posed in front of the topiary elephant as the woman snapped a picture.

"Ooh, that didn't turn out right. Do you mind if I take another?"

"Take as many as you want." Best Boy replied.

"Mr. Beast Boy, is Miss Raven your girlfriend?" Angelica asked.

"You got that right!" he replied with a big grin.

"Ok, I'm gonna take several shots, so say cheese!" The mother called out and began to snap away.

"Ok Angelica, say 'Thank You'." She instructed her daughter as she looked up from the camera's LCD screen. The expression on her face instantly changed from relaxed to horrified.

"Augh!" she screamed as she reached forward to grab her daughter's wrist and ran off. Beast Boy then felt something wrap around his waist and lift him into the air. He craned his neck around and saw that the topiary elephant had come to life, grown to full size and had wrapped its trunk around him. Other park attendees saw what was happening and also ran away screaming.

"Rae, watch out." He shouted to his sweetheart as a topiary bear took a swipe at her which she barely dodged by ducking. Using her black energy she pushed the bear away, only to see that all the topiaries had come to life and were running in her direction. She turned to Beast Boy, who still hadn't freed himself.

"Heads up toots!" A female voice with a Brooklyn accent called out from behind her. Raven turned around in time to see what appeared to be a large mallet hit her squarely in the face. She collapsed and hit the ground, knocked out cold.

"Eh, ya ain't as tough as they say ya are." Her assailant said, tossing her mallet aside. Beast Boy saw the whole thing and had morphed into a gorilla, breaking free from the elephant's grasp and ran to Raven's side, slapping away the strange woman who attacked her.

"Ow! That ain't no way to treat a lady, ya big galoot!"

Beast Boy ran up to the sorceress's side, now in his human form.

"Rae, baby, are you OK?" He shrieked, wiping the blood off her face while not noticing that vegetation was growing out of ground and trapping him again.

"Quit yer belly achin', she'll live."

"Who the hell are you?" he asked the woman, who was dressed like a harlequin. The topiary elephant approached and split open, revealing a petite red headed woman dressed in green.

"Aren't you a feisty one?" The red head taunted him. "And cute too. Green is my favorite color after all."

"You're Poison Ivy!" Beast Boy growled. "You don't really think I can't escape from these vines, do you?"

"Of course you can, but you won't. Isn't that right Harl?"

Harley pulled out a small pistol and held it against Raven's still unconscious head.

"Noo!" Beast Boy pleaded. "Don't hurt her! I'll do anything you say!"

"That's more like it, handsome." Ivy opened her palm and blew her spores in Beast Boy's face. "Now it's nap time."

Beast Boy immediately lost consciousness.

"Go ahead Harl, finish her off."

Harley hesitated.

"But she's just a kid ,Red."

"Harl, don't go soft on me. Bane said he'd pay us an extra 20 million if we killed her."

"I can't do it Ivy, I just can't. It's not like she's the Bat."

Ivy harrumphed and snatched the small caliber pistol from Harley's hand, then pressed its barrel against Raven's temple.

Poison Ivy sighed. "Eh, it's not worth it. We'd have the Titans and the Justice League after us if we greased her." She said as she handed the pistol back to Harley.

"Let's get out of here Harl. We got what we came for."

Slade was watching the breaking news on internet. 'Mayhem in Disneyland', 'Beast Boy kidnapped by Gotham Super villains'. He watched the live footage as Robin and Cyborg combed the queue area for clues while Starfire was tending to an enraged Raven. He had also hacked into the Disneyland security camera system and saw how close Raven had come to meeting her maker.

_So Terra has bypassed me and hired her own muscle. Her obsession with the green boy will be her downfall._

One would think that Slade would have been pleased with this situation, but one would be wrong. Slade was displeased with the idea of Gotham villains infringing on his turf. He also knew that Bane was involved, and he had never cared for the Venom man. Rumor had it that Bane was going to set up shop in LA, and that meant they would eventually bump heads in Jump City.

He would have to do something about that.


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Beast Boy woke up with a dull pain in his head. His bed was lumpy and uncomfortable. He carefully opened his eyes, shielding them from the ambient light. As he sat up he remembered what had happened.

_Raven!_ He recalled her helpless form lying on the ground, unconscious with a gun pressed to her head.

_How dare they? If they did anything to her …_

He sat up on his bed and surveyed his surroundings. It looked like it was a cell, except one wall was missing. He carefully walked up to the where the missing wall would have been and reached out with his hand. He recoiled instantly, as the force field packed a wallop. He examined his lightly burnt finger tips. He wouldn't be getting out that way.

He spent the next hour examining the cell with a fine toothed comb. The toilet was a chemical device, a fancy porta-potty, so he couldn't flush himself away to freedom. There was also no sink, just a crate full of bottled water. He saw two vents on the ceiling and turning into a spider he explored the ventilation system, which to his disappointment led to a carbon dioxide scrubber and then straight back into the cell.

His last hope was whatever powered the light panel on the ceiling. The panel itself was tightly sealed and he had to morph into a protozoa to get past the imperfect seal. This led into a larger chamber above the room. He morphed back into his human form and examined the second room, which was full of large batteries that powered the light. After 20 minutes of exploration he learned that the room was also sealed and wasn't ventilated as he noticed the air was beginning to get stale.

He returned to the cell below and gave it a final look over, already knowing the outcome. He was trapped. Not even The Beast could break out of this cell.

Now he knew why no move had been made against him all these past weeks, his captors had been busy building this containment cell, and they had done a good job.

Beast Boy stood in front of the force field and shouted.

"What do you want with me, Terra?!"

The Titans had returned to the Tower and were going over the evidence. And it didn't tell them anything they didn't already know.

Cyborg had examined Harley's mallet, which she left behind and found nothing special or unusual about it. Other than that all they had was the footage from the security cameras in the theme park.

Robin kept cycling through the scenes, beginning with the little girl having her picture taken with Raven and Beast Boy to the end where one of Ivy's topiaries picked up Beast Boy's unconscious form and carried him away.

Raven watched the footage with a grim face. Robin was currently reviewing when Harley appeared out of nowhere walloped Raven in the face with her mallet.

"How could I have been so stupid?" Raven castigated her herself as she watched Harley knock her out, over and over. "She's just a stupid clown."

"Don't be too hard on yourself Raven." Robin consoled her. "Don't let her costume and shtick fool you. She's one of Gotham's most dangerous villains. She was trained by the Joker himself."

"She doesn't even have powers." Raven lamented, clearly embarrassed and infuriated over her quick defeat at the harlequin's hand.

"If it's any consolation Raven, Harley almost did Batman in once."

Robin fast forwarded the video. Now it was at the part where Harley and Ivy where threatening to kill Raven if Beast Boy didn't cooperate.

Robin stroked his chin, humming in puzzlement.

"What is it Robin?"

"I'm still wondering why they didn't kill you. Apparently Harley couldn't or wouldn't do it. For some reason she took pity on you."

"And what about Poison Ivy?"

"She's a lot harsher than Harley. Harley can be sentimental, and that might be why she spared you. But Ivy, she's a cold blooded killer."

"But why would they want to kill me? I wasn't a threat at the time and I have no past quarrels with them."

Robin began to pace around the room nervously, shuffling his feet.

"I owe you an apology Raven."

"Terra! Of course! She's behind all this! She probably hired them to kidnap Garfield and murder me."

"And for some reason they had second thoughts and spared your life."

Raven then gave Robin a murderous look.

"If we don't recover Garfield safe and sound I won't have second thoughts regarding what I'll do to you!"

"She won't hurt him Raven. He's her most precious prize. If anything time is on our side."

"You'd better be right about this Robin."

"I'm positive, Terra won't hurt him. If anything she might threaten to hurt us, especially you, to coerce him into a romantic relationship with her."

Raven shook her head in disgust.

"Just you wait until I get my hands on her!" She growled, her eyes glowing black. "She'll wish she had never been born."

The ops console beeped, signaling an incoming call on the secure video channel. Robin punched a button and redirected the call to the large screen. When the caller's face appeared the two birds gasped.

It was Slade.

It had been hours since Beast Boy woke up and so far there had been no signs whatsoever of his captors. He knew that he was being watched and that didn't bother him, except now he needed to use the toilet, and he couldn't put it off any longer.

The chemical toilet offered no privacy, so he decided to make his own. He walked up to the bed and yanked a sheet off of it and carried it over to the toilet, draping it over himself before he sat down to do his business.

"Wassamater kid? Ya shy or sumthin'?" Harley's voice called out, taunting him.

"So you wanna watch me take a crap?" He barked back at her. "Robin was right, you are a sicko!"

"Hey! Shuddup ya green punk! Ya owe me kid, ya owe me big time!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Beast Boy shouted, still hidden under the sheet.

"We was supposed to kill yer sweetie, but we didn't. So no back talkin', ya hear!"

_Raven! She's OK!_ A wave of relief swept over the changeling as he emerged from his improvised tent.

"Where's Raven?" he demanded.

"Calm down kid. We left her behind at Disneyland. Just don't forget ya owe us."

"Whatever." He replied. "So where's Terra?"

"Who's Terra? I don't know no Terra." The clown replied. "And just so ya know, we left 20 million on the table when we spared yer little witch girlfriend. I don't get it kid, why her? She's creepy."

"Shut up, damn you! Just shut up!"

"That's gratitude for ya. Our boss chewed us out for not doing her in, and now I'm thinkin' maybe we made a mistake."

"Who hired you? Tell me dammit! Was it Poison Ivy?"

Harley laughed. "What? Ya think she's gotta crush on ya just cuz yer green?"

"Tell me!" he shouted. "Who hired you? And why?"

Beast Boy heard steps approaching his cell with his sensitive ears. He peered into the darkness beyond the force field, and was able to discern a silhouette approaching his cell. As the figure got closer he recognized him.

"Bane!" Beast Boy hissed. "Why? What have I ever done to you?"

"I have my reasons, amigo."

"Terra hired you. I know she did. How much did she pay you to do this?"

"At this point my friend I am not at liberty to divulge my reasons. But you will know soon enough."

"Where are we?"

Bane chuckled. "I will indulge you my friend. We are not very far from where you were captured."

"What do you mean? Am I still in Disneyland?"

"Now that would take some cojones, mi amigo." The masked man replied with a laugh. "But no, not that close. Are you hungry my green friend?"

Beast Boy didn't feel like eating, but knew he had to keep up his strength for an eventual escape.

"I don't eat meat."

Harley appeared with a pizza box and a two liter root beer, which she slid through the force field. Beast Boy made a mental note that the force field was a one way field as he opened the box.

"I see you did your homework." He commented dryly as he pulled out a slice of the veggie lover's pie from the box. Harley slid another box through the field. Beast Boy opened it and saw it was full of brand new comic books.

"Any chance I could get a game station?"

"You won't be here that long my friend."

_You got that right!_

"Slade!" Robin hissed. "What do you want?!"

"Greetings Robin. What do I want? I want nothing. I come bearing gifts."

Raven's face took its demonic form.

"What have you done with Garfield?" she asked in her otherworldly, guttural voice. "You'll return him immediately, or so help me Slade I'll…"

Robin placed a calming hand on Raven's shoulder.

"He's telling the truth Raven, he doesn't have Beast Boy."

Raven shrank back down to her human form.

"Robin, are you sure?" She asked.

"Very good, Robin!" Slade taunted the Boy Wonder. "I see that Batman's training hasn't been a complete waste on you."

The two birds glared at Slade as Cyborg and Starfire came charging into the common room.

"Robin!" Starfire shrieked. "Something strange is happening!"

"My sensors are picking up some strange activity. It's weird, like a power surge, and I've never seen one like it!"

The whole tower began to shake as huge vines crashed through the common room windows, breaking the view screen, shattering Slade's face.

Starfire screamed and began to pummel the animated vines with her star bolts, but new vines appeared faster than she could destroy them. Soon she was trapped and began to scream in panic.

Cyborg fared no better with his sonic cannon as the vines appeared everywhere; soon he was trapped as well.

Robin fought valiantly, converting two of his birdarangs into a sword, and hacked away at the invading vegetation. But soon fatigue set in and the vines kept coming and he too was trapped.

Raven was the only Titan left standing, using her dark energy to fend off the vines, which now where all attacking her. Fatigue also began to set in with her and she was starting to lose her edge.

"Run Raven!" Robin shouted. "Don't let them capture you."

Raven debated whether or not to follow Robin's order.

"You can't save BB if you're captured!" Cyborg hollered. "Just get outta here!"

Raven saw the logic in Cyborg's remark and was preparing to flee when several loud explosions were heard outside the Tower. Raven looked outside and saw a strange looking purple colored gas wafting around the outside of the Tower. As she saw the gas floating in the air the vines turned brown and died. As Starfire, Cyborg and Robin broke free from the dead vines a black aircraft pulled up in front of the common room and hovered while its canopy popped open.

Much to their surprise Batman emerged from the cockpit and leaped into the common room through the now missing windows.

"I heard through the grape vine that you needed some help." The Dark Knight remarked in his deep deadpan voice.

Robin lifted himself from the floor, unwrapping the last remaining bits of dead vegetation from his torso.

"Thanks." He replied. "I can't believe that Poison Ivy had the gall to attack the Tower."

"She was ordered to attack you." Batman replied. "She's working for Bane."

"Very good Bats, very good. I see that unlike Robin you can figure things out." A disembodied voice called out from the ops console.

"Slade!" Raven growled as she rushed to the console. Slade's connection had not been lost during the attack, and he had witnessed everything from the ops console. He masked face was still visible on the console monitor.

"I must say Titans that I'm very disappointed with you. Had it not been for Batman's timely arrival Poison Ivy would have captured you."

By this point Batman approached the console, glaring at Slade. Raven stared in awe at the caped crusader.

"It's been a long time, Deathstroke."

"It has been Batman, it has. But I don't go by that name anymore. Just call me Slade."

"You were saying you had something for us." Raven interjected.

"Yes, I was." Slade confirmed. "Batman beat me to the punch with Bane I'm afraid, but I do have more goodies for you."

"Why would you want to help us Slade?" Starfire shouted. "You are our enemy!"

"That is true Starfire, but right now we have a common enemy."

"Bane!" Robin howled.

"Very good Robin, very good. You aren't half as dense as Raven thinks you are!"

The birds both scowled at the monitor as the Dark Knight placed a soothing hand on their shoulders.

"What do you want in exchange for your information, Deathstroke?"

"Since you insist on calling me by my old name, how about you return my sword to me, Batman?"

"I don't think so."

"It was worth a try." Slade chuckled to himself. "But you already know that I'll give the information to you anyway."

"Well, spill the beans Slade. We're gettin' old waiting for you."

"Patience Cyborg. You could learn a lesson or two from Bats. Trust me, you'll be thanking me soon enough."

"Terra is behind all this, isn't she?" Raven continued scowling at the monitor, her arms crossed.

"Indeed she is Raven, but that was all too obvious. The good news is that she won't harm your little green boyfriend. But I know where they're keeping him."

Raven eyes grew wide. "Where is he Slade? Tell me now!"

Slade chuckled. "I will child, I will. But all of you must promise me something."

"No deals Slade!" Robin thundered.

Batman calmly replied. "Let me guess. You want us to capture Bane and his associates and send them all back to Arkham Asylum? Consider it done."

"Very good Batman. Very good. It's fortunate for me that Robin was a poor student of yours. Unlike you he is utterly unable to keep his emotions in check."

"You will not insult Robin!" Starfire roared.

Slade once again chuckled, his self satisfaction reeking like cheap perfume.

"How do you know where Bane's hideout is?" Raven inquired in her monotone.

"Ah Raven, so logical, so emotionless. I can only imagine how boring your honeymoon will be when you marry the green elf."

"Just get to the point Slade." She replied deadpan.

"Very well, seeing that I've had my fun I will now get down to business. I know the location of the hide out because I built the containment cell they're keeping Beast Boy in."

"I thought you didn't collaborate with them?" Robin remarked icily.

"I don't. I had to investigate who my "mystery customer" was. Of course Bane has no idea that he bought the cell from me."

"Where is he, Slade?" Raven said impatiently.

"Calm down Raven. You'll get your boyfriend back soon enough. Bane's hide out is in the basement of a condemned hotel that's just a few blocks away from the theme park."

Robin typed away furiously on the console.

"The old Hyatt. It was damaged during last year's earthquake; apparently the building contractors used substandard materials."

"Very good, Robin. And before I go, he also hired Firefly to help him."

"What about Terra?" Raven asked.

"You have some unfinished business with her I believe. Unfortunately I am unaware of her whereabouts. I will now take my leave. Good luck Titans."

The screen went blank as the connection was terminated.


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

The Titans milled around the common room. Their eagerness was palpable in the air as Batman and Robin quietly conferred in a corner, putting together a plan. Robin knew this would be terra incognita for the Titans as they would be facing new and very deadly foes. They could not afford another fiasco.

Cyborg looked grumpy as he paced around the room.

"So now we get to do Slade's dirty work for him." Cyborg complained. "I can't believe that he's demanding that we arrest his rivals!"

"Would you really prefer an underworld war between Slade and Bane?" Batman replied.

"Batman's right, that's the last thing we want." Robin added. "They would tear Jump City apart."

"Then we must make with the haste and defeat the Bane." Starfire commented in her usual messed up syntax.

The Dark Knight sized up the Tamaranian. He was aware of her physical prowess and scientific intellect, but was taken aback by her overall naïveté.

"It's not that easy princess. We have to plan this carefully."

"Why Batman? Why not just go in and kick some butt?" Cyborg asked. "What's so special about Bane? He's just a juiced up guy with a Lucha Libre mask."

"No Cyborg." Robin replied. "He's anything but that. Batman and I have squared off against Bane more than once. When he's pumped up with his Venom he's just as strong as either you or Starfire. And he's as cunning as Slade. Believe me when I tell you that I'm not looking forward to tangling with him again."

"So what do we do?" Starfire asked. "Our dear friend is being held prisoner by these villains!"

Batman turned and swept his dark cape around him. Starfire could see why Robin always spoke of him with awe and reverence, even though they had broken up as a team long ago. The Dark Knight was indeed dark, and was far scarier than even Raven, even though he lacked superpowers just like her beloved Robin.

"We need to attack swiftly and quietly." Batman replied. "The element of surprise is on our side."

"Starfire should take on Firefly." Robin suggested as he printed out a dossier on the villain, which he handed to his girlfriend to study.

"I agree. Her ability to fly and her physical resilience make her the correct choice." Batman replied. "And I want you take on Ivy, Robin. She has some new tricks up her sleeve, so be careful. Cyborg and I can take on Bane, while Raven can even her score with Harley and rescue Beast Boy from the cell."

It was at that moment that everyone suddenly noticed that Raven was no longer in the common room. Heads turned frantically, in a vain attempt to locate the sorceress.

"Where is friend Raven?" Starfire asked in a worried tone, already knowing the answer.

Robin slammed his fist onto the table, cracking its surface. "I don't believe it! She left without us! She's already in Anaheim." Robin said angrily.

"There goes our element of surprise." Batman growled. "Robin, I thought your team was disciplined!"

"It is!" The Boy Wonder replied, defending his team's honor. "I can't explain it. This is so unlike Raven."

"Now do you see why I frown on team romances Robin? They lead to situations just like this one."

Starfire drew closer to Robin, wrapping her arms around him. "I would never disobey Robin's orders. He is my boyfriend but he is also our leader. And you cannot tell me who I can and cannot love, Batman!"

"Now is not the time to argue princess. We have a job to do. And precious little time to accomplish it."

"So what do we do now?" Cyborg inquired.

"We go kick some butt." Batman replied.

Raven materialized in the hotel parking lot, behind a wild and unkempt bush. The parking lot black top was beginning to crack and was filling with weeds. It was rush hour and she could hear the traffic just yards away on Harbor Blvd. She crouched behind the bush, surveying the derelict building, which was surrounded by a chain link fence with warning signs that threatened trespassers with prosecution. The earthquake damage was painfully obvious. Every window in the building was broken while some of the upper floors had buckled and partially collapsed. The wrecking ball operator could forget about getting any overtime on this job. Since the economy had tanked and tourism was slow the hotel operator was in no rush the rebuild the hotel. No one would be coming by. It was a perfect hide out.

Raven opened her empathic channels, searching for Beast Boy, and found him right away

_He's in the basement_.

She continued to scan the building and sensed 4 more individuals in the lobby area. Beast Boy was alone in the basement. Raven decided to get a closer look and phased into the ground.

She reappeared in the basement, which was actually an underground parking garage. She hid in a dark corner and surveyed the unlit basement. She quickly located the cell, which was dimly lit and facing away from her. She worked her way around the garage, carefully remaining in the shadows until she could see the interior of the cell.

She saw an unusual sight. There appeared to be someone dressed as a Halloween ghost, in the stereotypical white sheet, who was sitting down. She watched quizzically until the figure stood up and after a few moments removed the sheet, revealing a green changeling walking away from a strange looking toilet.

She suppressed a laugh as she watched him open a water bottle and use its contents to wash his hands with a tiny bar of soap, after which he sat down on his bed and began to read a comic book. Raven knew that the cell was under surveillance, and debated on how to get Beast Boy out quickly before the villains upstairs could react. She looked for the control panel, but couldn't see it in the darkness. She then heard some footsteps walking down the nearby stairwell and hid herself, partially phasing into the nearby wall.

She watched the stairwell door intently as the footfalls became louder and louder and it soon opened. Harley Quinn emerged from the stairwell, carry a small paper bag and a jumbo sized soft drink.

"Lunch time, kiddo!" she called out as she approached the cell. She swaggered her tightly clad voluptuous figure as walked towards Beast Boy, swinging her derrière, clearly flirting with him.

_Slut!_ Raven seethed as she watched her new nemesis approach Beast Boy.

"Taco Belch?" Beast Boy complained. "That's gross. I hate their food."

"Quit yer complainin'. It's this or nothin', ya pointy eared green freak!"

Hearing the hated harlequin call her beloved a 'pointy eared green freak' made Raven's blood boil. Something snapped in her and the next thing she knew she had materialized mid air next to Harley and kicked her in the face with a perfect flying side kick. Raven's heel made perfect contact with Harley's cheek and she went down like a felled California redwood, knocked out cold, her nose broken and bloodied. Raven landed gracefully on the floor and turned towards the cell.

"Rae!" Beast Boy shouted as he leaped from his bed. "You came to rescue me!"

"Not until I can find the controls for this force field."

"Can't you phase me out of here?"

"No, I can't. The force field surrounds the entire cell. And they removed the control panel! It's not here dammit!"

Beast Boy looked at Harley's prone figure lying on the floor. The ultra super big gulp was lying next to her, slowly dripping its fructose sweetened content.

"Raven, get the straw out of the cup!"

"What?" she asked.

"Just do it, there's no time to explain."

Raven reluctantly pulled the drinking straw out of the cups protective lid. She looked at him curiously, with a 'now what?' look on her face.

"Poke it through the force field, but not all the way." He instructed her.

Raven carefully pushed the straw though the force field, which offered no resistance to the flimsy piece of plastic. Beast Boy carefully grabbed the other end, making sure not to pull all the way through. He wrapped his lips around it and blew. Raven felt the air flow out the other end.

"Gar! You're a genius!" She beamed at him as they carefully lowered the straw to the floor.

"And I thought it was the pointy ears that attracted you to me." He joked.

Once the straw was on the floor Beast Boy morphed into an ant and scurried through his improvised escape tunnel. As soon as he emerged at the other end he resumed his human form and wrapped his arms around Raven. She planted a quick but fiery passionate kiss on his lips.

"Where do you think you're going, BB?" A familiar voice called out from the darkness.

The couple swerved around to see Terra, levitating on a rock, flanked by Bane, Poison Ivy and Firefly. Ivy walked up to Harley and doused her with a bucket of water.

"Hey! What's the big idea?" the clown complained.

"I swear Harl, sometimes you can be so useless." Ivy complained to her partner in crime.

Raven grabbed her cape, preparing to swirl it around her to teleport Beast Boy and herself to safety.

"I wouldn't do that, Rae." The Geomancer challenged her.

As Terra warned Raven a loud crashing sound could be heard. Starfire and Cyborg had punched their way through a solid concrete wall, bending the remaining rebar out of the way to make an entrance. Batman and Robin quickly followed them in.

"Well, well, the whole family came, and they even brought the Bat with them. I'm honored." Terra mocked the Titans.

"Give it up Terra! You can't win!" Robin howled at her.

"Oh, but I can Robin, in fact I've already won."

"We can take your team Terra. You can make this easy or hard, it's up to you!" Robin warned her.

Terra laughed. "Ever heard of the San Andreas Fault Robin?"

The basement fell silent. The stunned looks on the Titan's faces could be seen, even in the dimly lit garage. Even Bane and his cohorts were shocked at Terra's not so veiled threat.

"Terra, you can't be serious!" Raven howled. "Do have any idea of how many people would die if you triggered it?"

"Millions!" The geomancer grinned. "It's about time the big one finally hit, don't you think?"

"Señorita, you cannot be serious!" Bane bargained with her. "The destruction, it would be unparalleled!"

"You would be hunted down like an animal, Terra!" Batman warned her. "It would also mean the death penalty."

"So what? If I don't have BB I've got nothing to lose."

Raven wrapped her arms around Beast Boy.

"You can't have him Terra. He doesn't love you!"

"I can't Raven? I say we let BB decide who he'd rather be with." The Geomancer grinned evilly.

Beast Boy looked at Terra in shock.

"So BB, what will it be? Bliss with me, the only girl who's ever truly loved you, or the utter and total destruction of Southern California?"

"Terra, you can't be serious! What kind of life could we possibly have together?"

"You loved me once, BB, you'll learn to love me again, and unlike her I'll treat you the way you deserve, like a King."

"More like a prisoner!" He shouted. "Terra, this makes no sense. Please stop."

"I'm leaving now BB, and I'm either going to our new home or to the San Andreas Fault. The choice is yours. And don't try to catch me. There's plenty of smaller faults right here in Orange County and I can trigger all of them from right here. 9+ on the Richter scale, guaranteed.

Beast Boy turned to Raven and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

"I'm sorry Rae." He whispered to her.

She closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest.

"I understand."

"Will you wait for me?"

"Until the end of the time." She whispered back to him.

Beast Boy turned forlornly towards Terra.

"OK, you win." He muttered. "I'll go with you."

"And you promise not to run away."

"I promise. Like I have a choice." He grumbled.

"Aw c'mon BB, we're gonna have a great time!"

She reached her hand out to him.

"Do you trust me?"

He took her hand and stepped onto the boulder with her.

"I did once. Then you betrayed me and my friends."

Terra frowned but turned her attention to Batman.

"Batman, I propose a truce. Let Bane and his cohorts go if they leave and return to Gotham."

"But Señorita, that was not part of the deal!" Bane protested.

"Are you crazy, Bane? Do you really want to have a turf war with Slade? And have the Titans breathing down your neck? You will return to Gotham if you want to be paid."

"No deal ,Terra." Batman growled.

"You want an earthquake, Bats?"

"She used to be a member of your team?" Batman muttered to Robin.

"So I made a mistake. Sue me."

"You won't be so lucky next time, Miss Markov." The Dark Knight growled.

"There won't be a next time." She laughed as she flew away with Beast Boy.

"Hang in there Gar. I'll find a way to free you, even if it's the last thing that I do." Raven whispered as tears flowed down her cheeks.

The trip back to the Tower was a quiet and subdued one. Batman bade them farewell and returned to Gotham. Before leaving Harley had the nerve to punch Raven in the shoulder while saying "Ya got moxie kid. No hard feelings, OK?" It took all of Raven's willpower to not rip the clown into a million pieces with her dark energy. Lucky for her Rage was still securely bound in Ravens mind.

Starfire sat with Raven in her compartment in the T-Ship, consoling her friend while swearing by her Tamaranian goddess that Beast Boy would be recovered from Terra's clutches. No longer able to contain herself, Raven broke down and sobbed into Starfire's shoulder. She cried the rest of the way home while the Tamaranian hugged her and attempted to soothe her.

Beast Boy stood perched on Terra's rock as they glided silently over the greater LA area, which took quite some time due to the vastness of its size. Terra held his hand tightly and kept trying to kiss him, but he repeatedly turned his frowning face away from her.

"Lighten up BB, it's just a kiss."

"I never agreed to be your boyfriend ,Terra." He snapped at her.

"Oh BB, I'll be a lot more than your girlfriend. I want to be your lover!"

"What?" he said in disgust."You're kidding me?"

The Geomancer grinned. "Don't tell me you never thought about having a roll in the hay with me?" she teased him. "And don't lie!"

Still frowning he replied. "Everybody thinks about it, Terra. Doing it, that's another story."

"Would you have said yes had I offered myself to you when we were dating?"

"Forget it, the answer is no, and will always be no."

"If you don't I'll hurt Raven."

"WHAT!?" he screamed at her, before calming himself.

"Fine, go ahead and rape me, just don't expect me to enjoy it."

"Rape? Who said anything about rape?"

"You did! You're threatening to hurt me if I don't do it. That's rape!"

"Don't be silly BB, guys can't be raped!"

Beast Boy barely heard her response as he was staring down. They were thousands of feet in the air.

"Terra, unless you release me I'll kill myself."

"No you won't. Now will you stop it with the crazy talk?"

Without saying another word Beast Boy stepped off the boulder, morphed into a tortoise and fell like a rock. Terra went bug eyed as she veered her boulder into a steep dive to catch up with him. Seeing her coming her morphed into a Peregrine Falcon. This time his bones were healthy and he went into another 200 mph dive. Terra panicked as she realized she couldn't catch up with him as he headed straight for the ground.

"Stop BB, stop!" She screamed. "Forget about the sex, I won't hurt Raven, I promise."

Beast Boy continued in his dive, steadily pulling away from the Geomancer, ignoring her offer, it was going to be all or nothing. He was now only a few hundred feet from the ground.

"Stop BB, you win dammit, you win. Please, don't hurt yourself!"

Beast Boy spread his wings and was able to slow down and land gracefully on a sidewalk along Van Nuys Blvd. As he morphed back into his human form Terra caught up with him. Hopping off her boulder, she was sobbing as she ran up to him, wrapping him in her arms.

"You idiot! Don't ever do that again!" she cried as she buried her face in his chest.

Beast Boy looked surprised.

"Terra, you really do love me."

"Of course I do." She replied bitterly. "What were you thinking? That I wanted to keep you as a pet?"

He paused after her profession of love. "So, did you mean it?" he asked.

She turned away, nodding as she continued to cry.

"Yes, I did. You can go back to Raven."

She gasped as he hugged her.

"Terra, I do love you …"

"… as a friend. Big whoop." She replied.

"I still want to be the best friend you ever had."

She looked into his eyes and hugged him tighter.

"You are. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me."

"Consider it done!" he said with a grin as she wiped her tears away.

She hopped onto her still levitating boulder. By this point a crowd had formed, gawking at the two superheroes. She extended her hand to him.

"Let me take you home."


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: I don't own any rights to the Teen Titans or any characters in the DC Universe.

Except for Raven's faint sobs the flight home was quiet, and even though it took only 20 minutes it felt like an eternity to Cyborg, Robin and Starfire, who could help but feel that they had failed both Beast Boy and consequently Raven.

Cyborg as usual was stewing in his own juices, blaming himself for not being all knowing and all seeing.

_I should have known Terra wanted to keep BB, I shouldn't have let them go to Los Angeles._

Robin was preoccupied with trying to understand the motive behind Terra's "truce".

_Why does she care about what happens between Bane and Slade? Was she really worried about an underworld war in Southern California? She was ready to destroy the whole place!_

Starfire was furious with Terra's behavior. She had stolen their friend and Raven's beloved from them and threatened kill millions if not allowed to get away with it. In her opinion Terra had become an especially dangerous criminal.

_She should be destroyed before she actually does trigger the earthquakes! _The princess thought as her eyes glowed.

Raven looked out of her canopy, still in Starfire's comforting embrace, watching the coastline quickly slip by below the T-Ship. She was beginning to wonder if this was some sort of cosmic justice being meted out to her, the natural consequence of the evil that lurked deep within her soul, an evil that she had always struggled to fight and contain and failed to do so more than once.

_I don't deserve him._

The Titans' return to the Tower would be unpleasant to say the least. For one thing, it was still trashed from Ivy's failed attack when they left. The lower half of the Jump City landmark was wrapped in dead vines and every single window had been broken. It was worse than when Saico-Tek had damaged the Tower the year before. Only Slade's long ago infiltration had caused more damage.

Cyborg sighed when he thought about the Tower's sad condition.

"Some time's I don't even know why I bother!" he mumbled out loud. "Why fix it? It's just gonna get trashed again!"

"I'll help you clean up Cyborg." Raven said in a hoarse voice, her throat was clearly irritated from all her crying.

"Forget it Raven, you just get some rest." He replied. "I can handle it."

"I agree friend Raven, you have had the bad day. You should rest." Starfire agreed with the tin man. "I will help Cyborg with the process of cleaning up and the repairing of the tower."

"Thanks guys." She replied. "But maybe it's better if I keep myself busy today."

"Whatever works for you Raven. Robin, would you mind calling the glass company?"

"Sure Cyborg, no problem. I have a hunch that they already know and are waiting for our phone call."

As they approached the Tower they were surprised to see that all of Ivy's dead vegetation was already gone and that a third of the windows had already been replaced. Cyborg's communicator chirped and when he opened it he saw Bumblebee's cheerful face on the display.

"We were wondering when you would all come back Sparky." She grinned. "We heard about Ivy's attack and decided to come over and give you a hand with the clean up. So how did it go?"

"Thanks for cleaning up Bee. Let's just say that we've had better days."

"What happened?" She asked in a concerned voice.

Cyborg sighed. "Terra got away with BB. She threatened to trigger an earthquake on the San Andreas Fault if he didn't go with her."

Bumblebee scowled. "I knew that girl was bad news the first time I laid eyes on her. How's Raven doing?"

"Not too good." He replied quietly. "She's taking this really hard. There's no telling when BB might come back. Maybe never."

Cyborg landed the T-Ship and after quietly disembarking they all went straight to the common room. Starfire still had an arm draped around Raven and the two boys were silent as they walked alongside their friend.

The room hadn't changed since they left. The windows were still broken and there was still dead vegetation littering the room. The four of them began to clean up, throwing the dead vines out the window and everything else into the trash. Raven kept herself busy, sweeping trash up and tossing it into a dust bin. She focused on the task to help distract her from the truth at hand, and it worked, that is until she swept up the smashed remains of Beast Boy's green game station controller, which is when she broke down and began to cry again, drawing everyone to her side.

"I'm sorry; I'm being such a wimp. I'm sure all of you miss him as well." She apologized.

"Oh Raven!" Starfire consoled her once again. "I wish I could do something to lessen your suffering."

Raven patted her friend's hand. "I'm OK Starfire. I know he will come back to me someday, and when he does I'll never let anything ever come between us again. Ever."

The Tamaranian held her friend tight and noticed that she did not squirm or feel uncomfortable in her embrace. Eventually Starfire released Raven and got up to help finish cleaning up the room, and that's when her supersensitive alien eyes saw the distant spec approach the Tower.

"Friends, something is coming our way." She pointed out the broken window. The others looked in the direction she was pointing, but only Cyborg with his bionic eye could discern the distant object.

"Well I'll be the son of a badger pup!" he exclaimed.

"What is it Cyborg?" Raven asked as she squinted her bloodshot violet eyes. "I can't see anything."

"If I'm not mistaken its Terra and BB."

Raven recoiled. "Is she coming back to rub her victory in my face?" Raven said angrily. "I wouldn't put it past her."

"Be positive Raven. Maybe it's good news." Robin reassured her.

"Yeah, right." She said under her breathe. "Since when do I ever catch a break?"

Terra and Beast Boy floated into the common room, his arm draped around her neck and hers was wrapped around his waist. He leaped off the boulder and ran to Raven, who looked like she was about to cry again.

"I'm back Rae!" he shouted as he scooped her up and spun her around him. "The deal's off. Terra's decided to release me!"

Raven looked astonished. "Please tell me this isn't a joke."

Terra was wide eyed, taking in all the damage that Ivy had inflicted before she turned to Raven and replied in a very grave and serious voice.

"I've brought him back, BB's yours Raven. And guys, I'm really sorry about all this. I'll pay for everything that was damaged, I swear."

"Thanks." Raven replied uneasily. "But why?"

Terra sighed before answering, still astonished at all of the destruction that surrounded her.

"Because you're his true love." She answered with a tone of resignation. "He would always be miserable with me. When all is said and done, I want him to be happy, and he can only be happy if he's with you."

"You're giving him up? Just like that?" Raven asked.

Terra nodded. "He made me understand that he didn't love me, and never would."

Beast Boy looked at Terra with a thankful expression in his eyes, grateful that she omitted telling everyone about his attempted suicide. Raven would have completely freaked out had she learned about it. There was some truth to the saying, sometimes it best to let sleeping dogs lie.

Terra then apologized to Bumblebee and Menos for her behavior back in Steele City and offered to take both teams out to dinner that night.

After that Terra quietly approached Raven and grabbed her elbow, leading her into the privacy of the conference room and closed the door behind her.

"I want you to understand something Raven. He's yours and I'm giving up any claims on him. But I'm warning you and I want to be perfectly clear about this. You'd better be good to him, really good. Because if you hurt him or mistreat him again, I'll come back and be your worst nightmare."

Terra paused, fighting back her tears.

"You can be so cruel to him sometimes. I still haven't forgiven you for beating him so savagely."

"Neither have I." Raven remarked softly. "But thank you, thank you for returning him to me. I'll be good to him, I promise."

Terra sat down on one of the chairs in the conference room.

"We've always butted heads, haven't we Raven?"

"I suppose so." She replied diplomatically. Then she chuckled. "But when we first met I never would have guessed that we would eventually fight over him."

Terra nodded. "And did we fight. Also, for the record, I was bluffing about the earthquakes, I can't start them."

"So now you tell us."

Terra nervously drummed the conference room table with her fingers.

"So when are you gonna marry him?" the Geomancer blurted out.

Raven was shocked by the bluntness of the question.

Terra responded with a coy smile.

"You know you will."

"I, I don't know." Raven stammered. "I haven't really thought about that yet."

"I'm surprised you haven't."

"I was a little busy worrying about rescuing him from you."

Terra nodded, still smiling.

"So, are you gonna wait until you're married? I envy you Raven. He's gonna be a heavenly lover, I just know it."

Raven glared at the Geomancer.

"I know, I know, I'm out of bounds." She said as she raised her hands in a mock defensive posture.

"Just don't forget Rae, they don't sell life insurance to super heroes for a good reason. Our lives can be exciting, but they can end suddenly and with little or no warning."

"I see your point Terra. But I'd rather not talk about that now."

Terra stood up and walked to the door. "It's time for me to go. Always remember, Raven, you're the luckiest girl in the whole world. I'll see you at dinner."

"You don't need to remind me of that, I already know it. See you later Terra."

Raven's room incurred minimal damage during the attack and once the windows were replaced that afternoon all Raven had left to do was pick up the broken glass from the floor, which Beast Boy helped her with. After that Beast Boy headed off to work on his own room, which had incurred some damage and needed more work. Raven had offered to help him, but he declined her offer. The hours went by and he didn't show up for dinner. Everyone was hungry after all the repair and cleanup work and were becoming impatient waiting for him. Raven wondered what he was up to and went to check on him.

As she approached his room she saw that the door was open and took a quick peek. She gasped in surprise, as it was the cleanest she had ever seen it. All the trash was gone, the beds were made, all of his trinkets had been picked up and put away and Beast Boy was busy folding his clean laundry.

"Would you like me to run the vacuum cleaner?" She asked.

He looked up at her and grinned. "Sure, that'd be nice."

She unwound the vacuum cleaner's cord, plugged it in, turned it on and started cleaning the floor.

"So." She began, shouting over the cleaner's din. "Why is your room so clean now?"

He grinned as he replied. "After spending so much time in your room I guess I got used to things being clean and tidy."

"I knew I was a good influence on you."

"You sure are. Of course, now that I'm moving back into my own room, well, I just had to clean it up, you know."

Raven shut off the vacuum cleaner.

"You're moving back into your room?"

"Well yeah, you know, I'm not in danger anymore, right?"

"Oh, of course." She replied. "It's just that, well, …"

He stopped folding a pile of T-shirts and looked up at her.

"What is it Rave?"

"I guess I'm going to miss you."

"Why don't you get yourself one of those full length body pillows, maybe a green one?"

"I'm not joking Garfield. Just a few hours ago I didn't know when or if I'd ever see you again. And now, with no warning you're back. I don't want to let you go again."

He nodded. "Sorry. It is gonna be kinda lonely without you. But we can't live in the same room and sleep in the same bed together every night. It's not like we're married. At least not yet anyway."

Raven perked up upon hearing his last remark.

"Do you ever think about that Garfield? You know, being married someday."

Beast Boy stopped folding his clothes and sat down on his lower bunk, motioning Raven to join him, which she did.

"I did when we were bunking together. I'd pretend that we were married when we went to sleep." He admitted with a slight blush.

There was a long pause until Raven broke the silence.

"So what do we do now?"

"I dunno." He replied. "I guess I could just keep on sleeping in your room, but …"

"But?"

"What will the others say?"

"Does it matter?" She replied. "I mean, were just going to sleep together … "

"Of course." He replied. "We wouldn't do anything like that."

She gave him one of her small Raven smiles. "Of course not …" Her smile grew. "At least not right away."

THE END


End file.
